All season long, West Virginia baseball has had the mentality of the next game is the biggest game. Staying in the present and not worrying about the future has helped this team be on the verge of making history.
When the Mountaineers travel to Austin, Texas, this weekend to face the Longhorns, one win will capture a Big 12 regular season title for the Mountaineers. One win will also tie the single-season record for wins at 40 for the Mountaineers.
Knocking two birds out with one stone would be nothing short of historic for Randy Mazey’s squad. West Virginia is firmly in the driver’s seat for the Big 12 regular season title after not finishing higher than fourth place in the conference regular season standings in the past 10 years.
“It would mean a lot to me actually because I’ve been here through literally everything,” West Virginia closer Carlson Reed said. “I’ve seen this team grow and become more of a team together and honestly a great thing to see.”
Reed and the Mountaineers are showing no signs of slowing down either. After dropping game one to Texas Tech on Friday, West Virginia responded with back-to-back wins, including a 17-2 thrashing as well as a 5-3 victory over the Red Raiders to clinch the series on Sunday.
One of the main reasons WVU is in the spot they are in right now is due to the play of JJ Wetherholt. Just a sophomore, Wetherholt should be the clear favorite for Big 12 Player of the Year and is working his way into the national conversation to be included as a Golden Spikes Finalist.
Wetherholt is not worried about the individual accolades that will almost for sure be coming his way at the end of the season. Instead, he is worried about what this team is trying to accomplish.
“I’m more focused on the team aspect of things. I want that conference championship. That was something I circled out in the beginning of the year — I really want that,” Wetherholt said.
Mazey’s message to the team this year has been to control what you can control. West Virginia was left out of the NCAA Tournament a season ago after securing a program-record 14 Big 12 wins — a mark which was broken this year.
“Never leave it in the hands of the judges is my rule,” Mazey said on if he feels West Virginia is deserving of hosting a regional. “We’ve spent a whole second half of the season trying to keep from thinking about that. Now it no time to start.”
The scenarios are simple for the Mountaineers to clinch the regular season Big 12 crown.
Win one game and you win the Big 12 if you are West Virginia. The only other team remaining in contention is Oklahoma State who is two games behind the Mountaineers. If you win one, you own the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Cowboys and you get to celebrate knowing you won the Big 12 and the No. 1 seed in the Big 12 Tournament is yours.
