The West Virginia Mountaineers are entering uncharted territory this weekend, and 12-year head coach Randy Mazey is welcoming the new with open arms.
“That’s the reason I wanted to win the regional and the reason I’d love to win the super regional: for them to experience things they’ve never experienced before,” Mazey said.
After four seasons of missing the NCAA Tournament, the Mountaineers are certainly experiencing brand new opportunities. WVU went 3-0 at the Tucson Regional as the region’s third seed. Now they gear up for a best-of-three series against the tournament’s fourth overall seed, the North Carolina Tar Heels.
For Mazey, though, the super regional site is vaguely familiar. Mazey coached a combined 11 seasons in the Carolinas, between assistant coaching at Clemson and East Carolina and head coaching Charleston Southern and East Carolina. He also played for the Clemson Tigers, where he made memories that have been reawakened this week.
“I actually just walked out to center field and was watching the ball fly off the bat, just like I did in 1986 as a player at Clemson,” Mazey reminisced.
“Played a lot of games here, coached a lot of games here… the Mountaineers have played on this field in I think it was 2013 when one of our big-leaguers John Means came in and threw a shut-out on this field… so I’m not unfamiliar with this field at all.”
Despite his familiarity with the field, though, Mazey knows that the Mountaineers will need to learn on the fly during the super regional, but he has full confidence in their abilities to do so.
“They can learn more in a session of batting practice than they can learn from me 40 years ago,” Mazey said.
“The balls have changed, the bats have changed, and so have the players, so it’s good to have a practice here.”
Mazey also holds connections with North Carolina’s head coach, Scott Forbes, who Mazey hired on as an assistant briefly at East Carolina before his quick departure to the Tar Heels as an assistant.
Alongside the coaching matchup, Mazey also recognized the battle at the mound between North Carolina starter Shea Sprague and WVU senior Derek Clark, who Mazey revealed would be his starter for Friday night.
Both Sprague and Clark have shined as left-handed pitchers this season. Clark has pitched an 8-2 record in 89.1 innings with a 2.82 ERA and 1.07 WHIP for 88 total strikeouts while Sprague pitched a 3-1 record this season in 69.1 innings for the Tar Heels. Sprague’s ERA and WHIP come in at 3.76 and 1.21 respectively, and he has thrown 58 total strikeouts. Beyond the success and left-handedness of the two, though, the comparison between the two will come down to demeanor.
“(Derek) Clark is such a small guy with a huge heart. I don’t know the personality of Sprague, but it wouldn’t surprise me if he is like that, too. He’s just really, really good,” Mazey said. “I wouldn’t be surprised if that kid gets the most out of his ability like Derek does, I’m just not around him.”
“From a pitchability standpoint, its fastball command, change-up, an occasional slider, so that’s the same,” Mazey added.
Junior Tyler Switalski will likely start game two for the Mountaineers, Mazey also announced. Switalski pitched 7.2 innings, allowing six hits, one run, and one walk with three strikeouts in the regional round against Grand Canyon.
Matchups and underdog status aside, though, one of Mazey’s primary goals is for his team to take something out of the experience, and that extends beyond just the baseball field.
“Our job as coaches and even as parents is to try and create memories for these guys, and that’s kind of what we’re doing,” Mazey said. “This is out of control, how much fun they’re having.”
“I don’t think there’s a program that has more fun than the players at West Virginia,” Mazey said.
The Mountaineers will look to continue their fun starting Friday night at 6 p.m. in Chapel Hill, N.C. The game will be broadcast on ESPN, per the day-of channel change.
