Photo by: WVU Athletic Communications
Mountaineers’ Unprecedented Road Success Fueling Rankings Climb
April 14, 2025 03:36 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The 20th-ranked West Virginia University baseball team swept a three-game series at Houston on Sunday afternoon with its 11-4 victory at Don Sanders Field at Darryl and Lori Schroeder Park.
Not only is saying the name of Houston's baseball stadium a handful, but so are these West Virginia Mountaineers!
Sunday's triumph was WVU's 18th on the road this year with only one loss.
That bears repeating: West Virginia is 18-1 in road games!
Of course, skeptics immediately point to West Virginia's nonconference strength of schedule, which is currently 257th with Tuesday night's game at Marshall looming, or its overall 146 strength of schedule rating in a Big 12 Conference that is still trying to sort itself out.
But 18-1 on the road?Â
I don't care who you are playing - mid-majors, Division II, junior college or whatever, winning 18 of 19 road games is pretty special. That means West Virginia has had to get 27 outs 18 times to win baseball games this season.
In a regular nine-inning home game, you only need 24.
"I just want to win games," West Virginia coach Steve Sabins said earlier today via Zoom.
Presently, Sabins' team is winning them at an unprecedented clip.
At 30-4 overall and cracking the top 25 in the final two poll holdouts, D1baseball.com and Baseball America, West Virginia is putting together the type of season that requires some record-book research.
The only thing comparable to what is happening right now was during a three-year period in 1962, 1963 and 1964 when West Virginia won 73 of 89 games, dominated the Southern Conference and finished each of those seasons ranked in Collegiate Baseball's national rankings.
WVU got into the polls late in the 1962 campaign when it advanced to the NCAA District 3 playoffs in Gastonia, North Carolina, where it was eliminated by 21st-ranked Wake Forest and 24th-ranked Florida State.
In 1963, the Mountaineers began the year on a 14-game winning streak, eventually broke into the national rankings in early May and rose to has high as No. 3 by winning 29 of 30 regular season games.
A victory over 18th-ranked Auburn was sandwiched between losses to fourth-ranked Wake Forest in the District 3 playoffs to conclude its season.
In 1964, West Virginia spent the entire year in the rankings, climbing to as high as No. 8 before concluding the regular season with a 24-3 record.
What those Steve Harrick-coached Mountaineer teams and the current version led by Sabins have in common is an uncanny ability to win road games. West Virginia was 13-2 on the road in 1962, 15-0 in 1963 and 12-1 in 1964 for a combined 40-3 record away from Hawley Field.
Back in the early 1960s, West Virginia relied on dominant starting pitching, solid defense and excellent fundamentals to win 17 of 22 one-run games.
Some of those qualities are evident this year, particularly defense and fundamentals. The old-timers always say the best way to win baseball games is by not losing them first.
"Games are screwed up. Bunts are thrown down the rightfield line. Outfielders run past ground balls and double plays aren't turned," Sabins observed. "A lot of times, in the moment, it's just one small mistake, but it's the additional out given to the offense that leads to the three-run homer.
"That stuff happens all the time," he continued. "We make a huge emphasis on that during the fall, but it's not secret-sauce stuff, it's attention to detail and holding players accountable to playing quality baseball all the time."
This year's squad hasn't had too many one-run games yet, claiming all four, because it has scored so frequently. The Mountaineers have topped 10 or more runs 14 times, including 39 in the final two games of the BYU series.
WVU has tallied at least nine runs in each of its last four games and is averaging 9.1 runs per outing this season. As a team, the Mountaineers are hitting .320 with all nine batters in this past Sunday's starting lineup boasting averages of .306 or better.
When your No. 8 hitter, senior Grant Hussey, just happens to be the school record holder with 42 career home runs, that pretty much sums up the lineup card Sabins is filling out each game.
West Virginia currently sits atop the Big 12 standings at 10-3, a half-game above 11-4 TCU. Among Big 12 teams, only BYU (22) and Utah (21) have played more road games than West Virginia and Kansas with 19 each.
The Jayhawks are 12-7 on the road; the Cougars are 12-10 and the Utes 9-12.
The teams immediately below West Virginia in the standings, TCU and Arizona, have played just 13 and eight road games respectively.
Mountaineer fans have certainly hopped on board in support of their team despite some so-so weather in Morgantown this spring. More than 3,200 came out for a midweek game in late March against Marshall, and a Kendrick Family Ballpark record 4,629 attended West Virginia's 11-1 victory over Pitt earlier this month.
During last weekend's three-game series sweep of Utah, 3,417 showed up for Saturday's doubleheader despite rainy and cool conditions.
I would imagine a nice contingent of Mountaineer fans will be in Huntington on Tuesday night to challenge Jack Cook Field's attendance record established during its dedication game on March 1, 2024, when 3,124 showed up to watch Marshall defeat Manhattan 3-0.
The Herd are a much-improved 18-18 this year under third-year coach Greg Beals, including a recent Sun Belt Conference series win over then-24th-ranked Southern Mississippi in Huntington. Beals led Ball State to an NCAA regional in 2006 and Ohio State to three regional appearances before his tenure in Columbus ended in 2022.
Marshall is 13-6 at home so far this year, which should provide another testy midweek atmosphere for these road-hardened Mountaineers.
As for its skeptics, West Virginia's best response is to remain focused on what's in front of it. There are plenty of challenging games ahead, beginning Tuesday night in Huntington.
"It starts by playing catch before the game," Sabins explained. "You can play sloppy catch, or you can play quality catch. During the fall, if a ball hits the turf when it's not supposed to hit the turf, we blow a whistle, and everybody yells 'ball on turf' and then the next day everybody watches it on video. There are a million different things like that to concentrate on and if you don't, you are going to have more of it happen.
"As a staff, you try not to look past the little things that get you beat. Most of the time, the game is about not beating yourself," Sabins concluded.
Â
Not only is saying the name of Houston's baseball stadium a handful, but so are these West Virginia Mountaineers!
Sunday's triumph was WVU's 18th on the road this year with only one loss.
That bears repeating: West Virginia is 18-1 in road games!
Of course, skeptics immediately point to West Virginia's nonconference strength of schedule, which is currently 257th with Tuesday night's game at Marshall looming, or its overall 146 strength of schedule rating in a Big 12 Conference that is still trying to sort itself out.
But 18-1 on the road?Â
I don't care who you are playing - mid-majors, Division II, junior college or whatever, winning 18 of 19 road games is pretty special. That means West Virginia has had to get 27 outs 18 times to win baseball games this season.
In a regular nine-inning home game, you only need 24.
"I just want to win games," West Virginia coach Steve Sabins said earlier today via Zoom.
Presently, Sabins' team is winning them at an unprecedented clip.
At 30-4 overall and cracking the top 25 in the final two poll holdouts, D1baseball.com and Baseball America, West Virginia is putting together the type of season that requires some record-book research.
The only thing comparable to what is happening right now was during a three-year period in 1962, 1963 and 1964 when West Virginia won 73 of 89 games, dominated the Southern Conference and finished each of those seasons ranked in Collegiate Baseball's national rankings.
WVU got into the polls late in the 1962 campaign when it advanced to the NCAA District 3 playoffs in Gastonia, North Carolina, where it was eliminated by 21st-ranked Wake Forest and 24th-ranked Florida State.
In 1963, the Mountaineers began the year on a 14-game winning streak, eventually broke into the national rankings in early May and rose to has high as No. 3 by winning 29 of 30 regular season games.
A victory over 18th-ranked Auburn was sandwiched between losses to fourth-ranked Wake Forest in the District 3 playoffs to conclude its season.
In 1964, West Virginia spent the entire year in the rankings, climbing to as high as No. 8 before concluding the regular season with a 24-3 record.
What those Steve Harrick-coached Mountaineer teams and the current version led by Sabins have in common is an uncanny ability to win road games. West Virginia was 13-2 on the road in 1962, 15-0 in 1963 and 12-1 in 1964 for a combined 40-3 record away from Hawley Field.
Back in the early 1960s, West Virginia relied on dominant starting pitching, solid defense and excellent fundamentals to win 17 of 22 one-run games.
Some of those qualities are evident this year, particularly defense and fundamentals. The old-timers always say the best way to win baseball games is by not losing them first.
"Games are screwed up. Bunts are thrown down the rightfield line. Outfielders run past ground balls and double plays aren't turned," Sabins observed. "A lot of times, in the moment, it's just one small mistake, but it's the additional out given to the offense that leads to the three-run homer.
"That stuff happens all the time," he continued. "We make a huge emphasis on that during the fall, but it's not secret-sauce stuff, it's attention to detail and holding players accountable to playing quality baseball all the time."
This year's squad hasn't had too many one-run games yet, claiming all four, because it has scored so frequently. The Mountaineers have topped 10 or more runs 14 times, including 39 in the final two games of the BYU series.
WVU has tallied at least nine runs in each of its last four games and is averaging 9.1 runs per outing this season. As a team, the Mountaineers are hitting .320 with all nine batters in this past Sunday's starting lineup boasting averages of .306 or better.
When your No. 8 hitter, senior Grant Hussey, just happens to be the school record holder with 42 career home runs, that pretty much sums up the lineup card Sabins is filling out each game.
West Virginia currently sits atop the Big 12 standings at 10-3, a half-game above 11-4 TCU. Among Big 12 teams, only BYU (22) and Utah (21) have played more road games than West Virginia and Kansas with 19 each.
The Jayhawks are 12-7 on the road; the Cougars are 12-10 and the Utes 9-12.
The teams immediately below West Virginia in the standings, TCU and Arizona, have played just 13 and eight road games respectively.
Mountaineer fans have certainly hopped on board in support of their team despite some so-so weather in Morgantown this spring. More than 3,200 came out for a midweek game in late March against Marshall, and a Kendrick Family Ballpark record 4,629 attended West Virginia's 11-1 victory over Pitt earlier this month.
During last weekend's three-game series sweep of Utah, 3,417 showed up for Saturday's doubleheader despite rainy and cool conditions.
I would imagine a nice contingent of Mountaineer fans will be in Huntington on Tuesday night to challenge Jack Cook Field's attendance record established during its dedication game on March 1, 2024, when 3,124 showed up to watch Marshall defeat Manhattan 3-0.
The Herd are a much-improved 18-18 this year under third-year coach Greg Beals, including a recent Sun Belt Conference series win over then-24th-ranked Southern Mississippi in Huntington. Beals led Ball State to an NCAA regional in 2006 and Ohio State to three regional appearances before his tenure in Columbus ended in 2022.
Marshall is 13-6 at home so far this year, which should provide another testy midweek atmosphere for these road-hardened Mountaineers.
As for its skeptics, West Virginia's best response is to remain focused on what's in front of it. There are plenty of challenging games ahead, beginning Tuesday night in Huntington.
"It starts by playing catch before the game," Sabins explained. "You can play sloppy catch, or you can play quality catch. During the fall, if a ball hits the turf when it's not supposed to hit the turf, we blow a whistle, and everybody yells 'ball on turf' and then the next day everybody watches it on video. There are a million different things like that to concentrate on and if you don't, you are going to have more of it happen.
"As a staff, you try not to look past the little things that get you beat. Most of the time, the game is about not beating yourself," Sabins concluded.
Â
Players Mentioned
1B
/ BaseballSteve Sabins | Feb. 16
Monday, February 16
Matthew Graveline | Feb. 16
Monday, February 16
Reese Bassinger | Feb. 9
Monday, February 09
Brodie Kresser | Feb. 9
Monday, February 09
