Apr. 14—MORGANTOWN — It would likely take either a miracle or, at the very least, an act from the state legislature to get WVU and Marshall back on the same football field.
To a lesser degree, pretty much the same for the two men’s basketball programs.
In baseball, all it takes is a phone call.
“If we can play three-game sets with the best schools in our area, I’ll sign up for it every year for the rest of my career, ” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “Marshall has always been willing to do that.”
WVU STATS The 20th-ranked Mountaineers (30-4) will head to Huntington at 6 p.m. Tuesday for the second game of the series this season. The Mountaineers won, 7-0, in Morgantown on March 25. There is also a neutral-site game in Charleston scheduled for April 30.
It will be the fifth consecutive season the Mountaineers have played the Thundering Herd (18-18) at least twice in a season.
Subtract the COVID-19 season, Marshall and WVU have played at least once every season since 2013, the year Randy Mazey took over the program.
“It’s a win-win. They are in a very good baseball conference. Now, they have a very good facility, ” Sabins continued. “They’re going to be a quality opponent and it’s great for the fans and its great for the state.
“I think the relationship has been great. I’ve always loved playing those guys, just because it’s great energy.”
Take Marshall’s 3-2 victory at Jack Cook Field last year.
“They beat us last year at their place and had a light show for 30 minutes, as we walked to the bus, ” Sabins said. “In general, that’s what college baseball is about, right ? Let’s go sell-out stadiums and set records for attendance and go play high-end baseball. I’m all for it.”
The reality is Sabins has a 56-game regular season to schedule, as opposed to 31 games for basketball and 12 for football.
The Mountaineers also schedule Pitt on a yearly basis in the same home-away-neutral format, although a game at PNC Park in Pittsburgh couldn’t be worked out this season.
He would like to find a way to schedule other area schools, such as Ohio State, or Maryland, if there was ever any mutual interest in similar formats.
“I would like to set three-game sets with the biggest schools within two or three hours from here, ” Sabins said. “If we had it my way, we would play those big schools in midweeks and play a home-away-neutral. You could play one game at a big-league park or play two at their place or two at our place. It would make scheduling a hell of a lot easier. It’s incredibly hard to fill out a 56-game schedule for us.”
WVU returning to Jack Cook Field may not exactly be a sort of blessing for Marshall, considering the Mountaineers’ 18-1 record in road games this season.
WVU’s lone road loss was in the first of a three-game series at BYU on March 27. It’s gone 6-0 in road games since then, and WVU is riding a 10-game winning streak into this matchup.
The 18-1 record in road games is the best mark in the nation to this point.
“I think the school and the state take a lot of pride in grit and they take a lot of pride in having no excuses and showing up, regardless of situations and battling through adversity, ” Sabins said. “That’s what this place is built on. Being able to go and do hard things is what this program is built on and we do take a lot of pride in that.
“There’s no secret sauce. You show up every day, try to get better and focus on your team. If you play well and work hard, you’ve got a chance to be successful.”