WVU's Season May Soon Be in the Hands of Unproven Arms

All of the advantages that the West Virginia Mountaineers walked into Saturday with are now gone. They now have a loss on the ledger, a few pitching options, and an injured Maxx Yehl. As well as everything went on Friday, it went equally as badly on Saturday.

WVU head coach Steve Sabins will now have to rely on inexperienced pitchers to get 27 outs against Wake Forest to keep their season alive and then an additional 54 outs against Kentucky if they want to win the Morgantown regional and advance to supers for the third consecutive year.

The Mountaineers have the offense to put runs on the board, but they're going to need someone on the mound to step up and play hero, just as Sabins said in his postgame press conference last night.

“At the end of the day, it always comes down to well, if you don’t win the game you’re playing, you don’t get to play no more," said when asked his strategy on pitching a guy vs. saving him for the next game. "It’s one of those things; it’s very difficult to line up for the future because the worst-case scenario would be thinking that you had somebody in the bullpen that could help you win the game, and your season’s over. I think it’s really more about next man up. You’re going to have to have some heroic performances, and that was the message to the team at the end of the game. Essentially, if you hadn’t had the ball a ton or you been dying to pitch more or to be in the biggest games of the season, like your time is coming. Get ready for it. That’s what awesome and incredible stories are made from. We have kids that are capable of being great, just only so many guys can throw in a three-game set. If you’re trying to win a five-game set, you’re going to have some opportunities.

Ian Korn threw 70 pitches last night, and David Hagen threw 40 in relief to finish off Binghamton on Friday. With the season on the line, both could be available, albeit in a limited fashion. Heck, even Friday night starter Chansen Cole could be in the mix to pitch an inning despite throwing nearly 100 pitches less than 48 hours ago. Don't expect him to start, but don't be surprised if he's asked to come in and try to get WVU out of a jam or to keep the game where it is for an inning.

Regardless of who gets the ball to start the game or in relief, they're going to need to pack their cape(s). For West Virginia to get out of this regional as the winner, some remarkable things will have to take place.

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