West Virginia baseball did something they have never done on Tuesday night when they faced Pitt in the Backyard Brawl.
4,614 people attended WVU’s game on Tuesday at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
That number would be a single-game attendance record for the Mountaineers and their baseball team. Despite hosting a NCAA Tournament regional in 2019, and having a team that reached the top 10 of many rankings during the season last year, it was Tuesday’s crowd which set the record.
“This is what the Backyard Brawl is all about. The crowd was unbelievable. Was that the largest crowd in the history of West Virginia baseball — that’s ridiculous,” West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey said. “And they were into the game, and that’s a cool atmosphere for our guys to see that have never seen it.”
For Mazey though, the crowd on Tuesday carried a different meaning.
Fans lined the railing above the home dugout on the first base side, extending beyond the right field wall behind WVU’s bullpen. They also flocked to the grass berm beyond the third base dugout, packing in to the concourse and wherever they could get their eyes on the Mountaineers.
Later in the game they would play a song familiar to both Pitt and West Virginia fans. The song, Sweet Caroline, carries different meanings for both fanbases, but it gave Mazey an opportunity to look what he has helped build.
Mazey said as he looked around he saw his wife, Amanda, and understood the significance of Tuesday being his last home Backyard Brawl as the head coach of the Mountaineers.
“It’s just amazing. I look up there and my wife is crying like a baby. There she goes again,” Mazey said as he was somewhat choked up postgame. “I know what I’m going to get when I get home; that’s your last Backyard Brawl in Morgantown as the head coach here. So what a great way to play my last home game against Pitt.”
Mazey has been the head coach of WVU since 2013 has announced that this season will be his last before he steps away from being the head coach of the Mountaineers. Mazey has completely changed the way West Virginia baseball is viewed and Tuesday was just a small reflection of that.
“A lot of that stuff I said 10 years ago is coach speak, that we know what we can do with this program. But to actually see it come to fruition is another thing,” Mazey said.
Mazey was grateful for the people that came and was appreciative of the support they give the Mountaineers.
“All 4,600 people that were here tonight, I wish I could just go aisle to aisle and just shake everybody’s hand and thank them for the support that they’ve given this program,” Mazey said. “And that makes it hard for Pitt’s pitchers to throws strikes, and for Pitt’s hitters to get hits when our crowd is so into the game. I’ve always said, we put an entertaining product on the field, come and be entertained. But come and help us win too, and I think that’s what they did.”
Top photo by Aaron Parker, Blue Gold Sports
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