It’s not every day we open new facilities around here, so I thought it would be a good idea to make this week’s Campus Connection an all-day blog from Monongalia County Ballpark in advance of tonight’s home opener against Butler.
The game will start at approximately 6:15 following a brief on-field dedication ceremony.
I would encourage people planning to attend tonight’s opener to memorize the parking/game information release sent out earlier this week.
As with all new venues, this place is still a work in progress with construction crews working feverishly tending to last-minute details.
So without further delay, away we go.
10:23 pm
And the Magnolia kid,
Justin Fox, ends it for the Mountaineers in the 13th inning with a walk-off single to left. West Virginia 6, Butler 5.
9:46 pm
Some more extra baseball. We are in the 12th.
8:57 pm
And we go to the bottom of the ninth all knotted up at 5.
8:46 pm
We are all knotted up here and the go-ahead run is now 90 feet away.
8:42 pm
Pretty cool tweet here.
8:22 pm
The turf monster gets the Mountaineers. Butler retakes the lead 5-4 on a bloop double that should have been out number 3.
8:12 pm
We are now tied up at 4. Just had a nice visit with General Anderson. I think we could have talked the rest of the evening if he didn't have to return to D.C. to be honored by the Sons of American Revolution tomorrow night. What a remarkable man.
7:37 pm
Jackson Creamer just put the first one out of the ballpark up on the mulch in centerfield next to the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.
7:35 pm
The Butler did it. The Bulldogs plate four runs in their half of the fourth to take a 4-2 lead.
7:32 pm
7:26 pm
Just been told tonight's game will go down in the books as a sell-out. 1 for 1 on sellouts.
6:56 pm
And the first-ever run scored at Monongalia Ballpark was by
Kyle Davis, driven in by
KC Huth.
6:46 pm
Butler strands two runners in the top of the second. Still 0-0 with the Mountaineers coming to the plate.
6:29 pm
Fittingly, shortstop
Taylor Munden goes down in history by recording the first hit in the new ballpark.
6:22 pm
First pitch. A great pre-game ceremony topped off by four-star general Earl A. Anderson throwing out the ceremonial first pitch.
5:45 pm
Hearing all that's left now are standing room only tickets. All of the seats should be full by the time first pitch takes place at 6:15 p.m.
5:44 pm
Here is tonight's starting lineup for the Mountaineers:
5:13 pm
We call this Mountaineer weather! Beautiful night for some college baseball. That atmosphere here tonight moves West Virginia University baseball up several notches on the perception ladder.
4:53 pm
The gates are opene and people are entering the ballpark. Looks like it is going to be a great night for some college baseball.
4:30 pm
4:35 pm
A tweet from the Mountaineer Maniacs ...
4:30 pm
By the way, here is a really cool time lapse video of the ballpark construction dating back to last summer.
4:23 pm
Wasn't it Bob Knight who once said the working press is "an oxymoron?" Those are his words, not mine!
4:13 pm
The Mountaineers wrapping up batting practice at the "Launching Pad." Kind of reminds me of Atlanta Fulton County Stadium back in the Super Station days ... Dale Murphy, Bob Horner, etc. ...
3:56 pm
When you "Are looking live!" ... This is the guy making it happen ...
3:44 pm
And another great memory ... One of the guys playing "Taps" on the PA system when Boston College's starting pitcher was removed from the game. Later, when we went to the Big East Tournament, the Boston College coach at the time hadn't forgotten about it and said that if he had had a baseball in his back pocket he would have thrown it at the "wise guy" in the press box who chose to play that song. Good stuff ...
3:30 pm
And one more Hawley Field memory ... Our sports marketing graduate assistant playing "Hallelujah" over the public address system when a WVU player finally broke up Notre Dame pitcher Aaron Heilman's no-hitter in the sixth inning. West Virginia's hitting coach at the time was not too please with his choice of songs.
3:34 pm
One more great Hawley Field memory just came to me ... Dale Ramsburg having backup catcher Eric Petho go into the neighbor's yard to search for a foul ball just to get him out of the dugout. According to Petho, he spent at least two or three innings searching for that baseball before Ramsburg finally motioned him to come back into the dugout.
3:20 pm
Meanwhile, here is the view from over at historic Hawley Field. Thanks for the photo Nick Arthur.
Before there was a press box the media used to sit in a utility room next to the first base dugout and we took incoming several times a year. My favorite Hawley memory was Dale Ramsburg walking by to tell the official scorer (who shall remain nameless) that passed balls are not errors. It seems the official scorer had way too many errors on the scoreboard - to the embarrassment of the team, of course.
I also recall a certain WVU administrator attempting to re-create the Comiskey Park exploding scoreboard and while doing so he broke one of the knobs off of the control panel.
Great times there through the years!
3:13 pm
A great view of the ballpark from above the visiting bullpen. By the way, an announcement was just made that all vehicles parked on the road near the stadium will be towed. I'm good on that one.
2:55 pm
A West Virginia staple ... Food.
2:47 pm
Suite life. A look inside one of the suites here at Monongalia County Ballpark.
2:30 pm
Here is the latest weather in Morgantown. Looks like all of the bad stuff is clearing out to the East. Should be pretty nice this evening.
2:19 pm
Out beyond the right field fence off into the distance is what is going to pay for this ballpark and a whole lot more when development begins. It will be interesting to see what eventually comes up here in the coming days.
2:02 pm
According to my time run down sheet, West Virginia batting practice will begin at 3:50 pm and will end at 4:30 when Butler will take BP. We should get a good read then on just how well the ball is carrying here. My guess is any pitch belt-high or above could go a long way tonight, so if you like baseball games with lots of runs ...
1:15 pm
The wind is not too bad out here right now - for kite flying.
12:35 pm
The first person I saw driving into the ballpark was April Messerly, assistant athletic director for facilities and operations. She didn’t say much to me, but the look on her face indicated that she will be happy when we get past today’s opener.
I can tell you, what this work crew has accomplished in such a tight time frame is nothing short of miraculous, in my opinion.
