West Virginia baseball improved to 27-4 (7-2 in the Big 12) this season after a series sweep against Utah. It was a team effort for the Mountaineers, and head coach Steve Sabins was happy with how players stepped up.
“Guys, continue to step up and play big. It is hard when you lose, arguably, your two best hitters, but you are still competitive and you put up runs. I am really happy about what the team did,” Sabins said.
Those two best hitters, Sam White and Logan Sauve, are both dealing with shoulder injuries and have no timetable for return. They are two huge losses for the Mountaineers, both on the field and at the plate, but it did not affect the team this weekend.
A huge reason for this is freshman Gavin Kelly, who stepped up huge this weekend, recording an inside-the-park home run in the third game of the series.
“He can’t do much better. He had one passed ball. I thought he did wonderfully,” Sabins said.
WVU is proving so far this season that it has 13 or 14 players who can hit the ball very well and play great on the field. During a weekend series like this one, especially with a double-header, it is extremely important to have the depth that Sabins’ squad has.
Sabins, who recruited many of his players under Randy Mazey at head coach, knows what each player’s strengths and weaknesses are. He has also cultivated a coaching staff that is great at what they do.
“The staff did an incredible job preparing for the games, preparing our hitters, and preparing our pitchers for the games,” Sabins said. “Tomorrow we get to sleep in and have breakfast with the family, and that doesn’t happen very often during the spring.”
The Mountaineers will have two days off before taking on Penn State on Tuesday, with the first pitch being at 6:30 p.m. ET.
