MORGANTOWN, W.Va.–On Friday, the West Virginia University baseball team will kick off the season against Kennesaw State in the Atlanta Challenge.
The Mountaineers are looking to build off last season, where they went 29-27 and made it to the Big 12 Championship semifinals.
WVU was picked to finish sixth in the Big 12 and the Mountaineers are determined to prove their doubters wrong.
“We are ranked sixth out of nine? That’s not very good,” WVU head coach Randy Mazey said. “I think that’s not very good for everybody else but that’s really good for us because I think our guys know they’re better than that and that’s going to enable them to play with a chip on their shoulder, something to prove. Anytime you get a group of kids with something to prove that can be dangerous for the other team. I wish we would have been picked ninth personally. But we slid in at sixth and I think that’s going to help us more than it hurts us.”
This squad has the potential to do just that. The Mountaineers will be without starting pitcher B.J. Myers, second baseman Kyle Gray, shortstop Jimmy Galusky and Michael Grove, who missed last season due to an injury. However, WVU returns six of nine starters.
Alek Manoah is expected to be the ace of the starting rotation while Sam Kessler, who was named to the Stopper of the Year watch list, returns to be the stud of the bullpen.
Manoah has dedicated himself to the game he loves and has been impressive so far.
“I think he made a decision this summer that he’s going to get really serious about playing this game for a living and I think the results have showed,” Mazey said. He’s been pitching really well so far this spring. He’s going to have to be a workhorse for us, go out and give us 100 to 120 pitches every game.”
Behind Manoah is junior Kade Strowd and 6-foot-7 left-handed sophomore Jackson Wolfe.
Wolfe made 17 appearances last season and posted a 4.07 ERA and 1-1 record. And Strowd is no stranger to pitching on the big stage. Last season he led the team with four wins and with 61 strikeouts in 62.2 innings pitched. He allowed 40 earned runs on 67 hits for a 5.74 ERA with 36 walks while holding opponents to a .276 batting average.
The Mountaineers have another tall southpaw that turned heads in the fall. Junior Nick Snyder is 6-foot-7 and while he only saw four innings of action last season, he will be a big part of Mazey’s pitching staff.
Pitching depth is a concern for WVU and someone will have to step up.
“We have a lot of guys who compete really hard and throw a lot of strikes,“Manoah said. “We have some good incoming freshmen too.”
But the Mountaineers return the majority of their position players. The middle of the infield was a questionable spot but sophomore second baseman Tyler Doanes and freshman shortstop Tevin Tucker are settling in.
As a freshman, Doanes led the team with four triples, was second with a .407 on-base percentage and fourth with a .317 batting average. He posted a .475 slugging percentage with 32 hits, 20 RBIs, five doubles, one home run, 10 walks.
“He’s a really dynamic kid, a dynamic player who’s fun to be around,” Mazey said. “I want him to have fun playing baseball. We’ve got a lot of older players around him at those other positions who are going to help calm him down. Just do what you do. That’s why you’re here. We’ll live with some mistakes. That’s how he’s going to grow.”
Tucker ranked seventh overall and second among shortstops in Virginia. He was a two-time first team all-conference, first team all-region, second team all-state and all-academic team honoree.
Senior Ivan Gonzalez returns behind the plate for WVU. Last season he finished fourth on the team with 11 doubles, fifth with 51 hits. He hit a .255 clip.
Defensively, Gonzalez is as solid as they come. He has a career .996 fielding percentage.
Third base is still anyone’s job for the taking. Gonzalez can play some at the position. Andrew Zitel is also an option.
First baseman Marques Inman’s season was cut short in 2017 due to a knee injury. He returned last season and picked up right where he left off.
In 2018, he batted a .319 clip and drove in 40 runs while leading the team with 12 multi-RBI games and was third with 20 multi-hit contests.
After an injury sidelined Kevin Brophy last season, he returns healthy and ready for action. He had six home runs last season in 53 at-bats.
WVU’s outfield is pretty well loaded. Brandon White is coming off an injury and is getting back into things. Last season he batted .289 and scored 30 runs.
The junior is known for his deadly speed on the bases and stole 22 bases in 33 attempts.
Senior Darius Hill returns in right field. He was named to the preseason All-Big 12 team.
Last season the Dallas, Texas native led the team with 79 hits and 20 doubles, was second with a .329 batting average, 41 hits and 115 total bases, third with 36 RBIs and two triples, fourth with a .479 slugging percentage and added four home runs. He posted a .362 on-base percentage while striking out just 20 times.
Braden Zarbnisky is out for the season so freshman Austin Davis and junior T.J. Lake will likely split playing time in left field.
The Mountaineers have enough talent to make moves if they can squeeze a few wins out over teams like Oregon State and their Big 12 conference foes.
Cover Photo Credit: Jeff Ruff, BGS
