Back in 2023, West Virginia returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 as they were sent to the Lexington Regional.
That season, the Mountaineers had their season come to an end at the hands of the Wildcats. This season, West Virginia opens their NCAA Tournament journey against Kentucky, in the first game of the Clemson Regional.
“We have a little familiarity with Kentucky. We played there in 2023, and so we got to go play them, and so I think with our team, if you go play teams and you kind of know what they’re about, we have people that are on this team that lost to Kentucky two years ago, and so I think there will actually be more confidence just knowing who you’re going up against. You’ve been there and done that a little bit,” West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins said.
West Virginia lost to Kentucky 10-0 in 2023, with a few players on this year’s roster being on that roster.
Logan Sauve, Grant Hussey, Sam White, and Ellis Garcia all got at least one at-bat against the Wildcats in that game and are all on the current roster.
This time around against Kentucky, it will be a little bit of a different setup in more ways than one.
For starters, West Virginia won’t be staying in freshmen dorms ahead of the game, something they had to do two years ago due to events happening in the Lexington area.
“Last time we went to Kentucky, we stayed in bad freshman dorms. And so, yeah, if they got a holiday in, we’re on the come-up in the program,” Sabins jokingly said.
The real way it will be different is that West Virginia will be the higher seed as the two-seed in the region. The Wildcats were one of the last few teams in the field of the tournament, finishing with a 29-24 record compared to WVU’s 41-14 mark.
Overall, there is just excitement to be back in the NCAA Tournament and have the opportunity to keep playing baseball.
“You’ve been there and done that a little bit, so the instant reaction is just we’re excited to be in a regional. You saw our kids’ reactions. I think that was incredible. That’s how it’s always been here, and I’m so proud that it continued this year,” Sabins said.
First pitch between WVU and Kentucky is set for noon on Friday, with the game being televised on ESPNU.
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