PITTSBURGH — An inability for pitchers to consistently find the strike zone was a sore spot for West Virginia in Tuesday’s 10-9 loss at Pitt, particularly during the Panthers’ five-run ninth inning that allowed them to overcome a significant late deficit and gain their only lead in a walk-off victory.
Excluding Tuesday’s starter Chase Meyer and freshman reliever Tyler Hutson, the remaining seven WVU pitchers combined to allow eight runs over 2 1/3 innings with seven walks, three hit batsmen and four strikeouts.
Mac Stiffler, the third of four WVU pitchers utilizied in a forgetful ninth, took the loss after failing to retire both batters he faced. Stiffler entered with the Mountaineers in front 9-8 but the tying run on first base, and after allowing a single to Sebastian Pisacreta, he hit Julian Irizarry to load the bases.
On came Reese Bassinger some 72 hours removed from a stellar seven-inning outing in Saturday’s win over Texas Tech. Mountaineer head coach Steve Sabins would have preferred not bringing in Bassinger, but felt his presence on the mound provided the team with its best chance of prolonging the game. The Tarleton State transfer did exactly what the Mountaineers hoped for by inducing ground balls in consecutive at bats, though Pitt scored a run on both occasions to prevail.
It marked only the second time this season the Mountaineers have led by at least four runs in a game and lost. The other occasion was on March 27 at BYU when WVU jumped out a 4-0 lead in the second inning.
“Losing games sucks in general. You’re always trying to win games and put yourself in a situation to be the best, and tonight, we weren’t that,” Sabins said.
It was the Panthers’ first win in the Backyard Brawl in their last nine tries and extended their win streak to five as Pitt improved to 25-21.
For West Virginia, it was a disappointing result that prevented the Mountaineers from tying the program’s single-season mark for wins at 40. The Mountaineers (39-8) will strive to do that Friday when starting a three-game series at Kansas State.
While the pitching was problematic at Pitt, Sabins also felt his team could have done more offensively to ensure it came out on top.
“We had these really good moments throughout that game, but we didn’t really finish them off offensively,” Sabins said. “We ended up scoring nine runs, but with the amount of walks they gave us, it felt like there were some moments in there when we could’ve ended somebody — and we needed to do that.”
Instead, WVU will enter its third straight weekend series fresh off a one-run loss to a regional rival in non-conference play.
Two weeks ago, WVU suffered a 3-2 setback at Penn State on a Tuesday night and bounced back to sweep a three-game series at Central Florida. One week ago today, the Mountaineers suffered a 7-6 loss to Marshall in Charleston, and while they came up short in their next game to Texas Tech, WVU bounced back to win two straight and take the series with the Red Raiders.
“There’s certainly a concentration in general in winning conference games, going really hard and trying to be the best on the weekends in those series,” Sabins said. “Midweek baseball in general is usually a little bit lower inning count, a lower pitch count. I wouldn’t say this a concern.
“The best thing about these midweeks is that guys get the ball that didn’t get it on the weekend, so they have an opportunity to grow and develop, and have a chance to become stars. We’ve seen kids make big jumps in the midweeks — Tyler Hutson being one of them, Ben McDougal being one of them, and guys that have become staples in our bullpen.”
The Mountaineers will head to Manhattan, Kansas with an 18-4 mark in Big 12 Conference play and a three-game lead over second-place Arizona State in the league standings.
Because WVU’s Big 12-opening series this season at Oklahoma State was reduced to one game as a result of March wildfires in the Stillwater area, the Mountaineers have played 22 league contests to this point compared to 24 that 10 of the remaining 12 Big 12 squads have completed. Oklahoma State and Houston played two of three scheduled matchups in April, leaving the Cowboys and Cougars with 21 and 23 league games, respectively.
The Sun Devils, at 16-8 in the Big 12, welcome Houston for three games this weekend and wrap the regular season with a three-game set in Stillwater. Kansas, Arizona and TCU, all at 15-9 in the Big 12, remain in the mix to finish first in the league. So, too, does Kansas State at 14-10, though the Wildcats need to sweep the Mountaineers to stay in the race.
West Virginia wraps up the regular season May 15-17 with a three-game home series against the Jayhawks.
Victories in three of the remaining six league games would secure WVU’s first outright Big 12 regular season championship and it’s entirely possible two wins in Manhattan would do the trick.
Currently No. 22 in RPI having dropped two spots with Tuesday’s result, the Mountaineers have more to play for than the Big 12 crown. They also remain in the mix to be one of 16 teams to host a regional in the NCAA Tournament.
Anything short of series wins against both the Wildcats and Jayhawks makes a regional in Morgantown that much tougher to come by, while winning at least five of six remaining Big 12 games would significantly bolster West Virginia’s resume.
“They’re in a good spot,” Sabins said. “These kids are ultra resilient and have done a really nice job bouncing back when adversity hits.”