New turf playing different and bringing new challenges for West Virginia baseball

This season, Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark, the home of WVU baseball, will feature new turf.

Mountaineer head coach Randy Mazey and star shortstop JJ Wetherholt touched upon a week before their season opener, saying it plays different than the old playing surface, but they are all very happy with how it looks.

“I think it looks great,” Mazey said of the new turf. “They asked me how I wanted it to look and I wanted that dang state of West Virginia in center field so I’m proud of that.”

Mazey then went on to further explain his decision and his pride in the new turf.

“I wanted the people to be proud of the state that we come from and I wanted our players to be proud of the state that they play in. So, I wanted that state in center field. I’m awful proud of that and I think it looks great,” he said.

In terms of the different playing feel of the turf, Wetherholt noted some differences he has noticed.

“It’s a lot different, it’s slower, it’s honestly been pretty bouncy,” Wetherholt said.

He said they are still in the early stages of getting used to the new field, but with time it will get better and they will be more comfortable with it.

“It’s in a phase where it almost gets better every day just because it’s kind of settling in and breaking in. And so it’s been a little bit of a tough adjustment I won’t lie, obviously just because of how kind of fast our turf used to play,” Wetherholt said.

“So it’s a little bit slower, the ball bounces a little bit higher, our last turf was kind of skippier’. But we’ve been trying to hammer away ground balls and try to replicate some in-game hops and see what will happen. It’s been a little bit of a learning curve but I think we should be all right.”

West Virginia will have their home opener on Feb. 28, against Canisius with first pitch expected to be at 3 p.m.

Photo courtesy of @WVUBaseball on X