WVU comes alive to beat Cincy in Big 12 tourney
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MORGANTOWN -- Steve Sabins was ready to call the FBI to see if it could find his slumping West Virginia Mountaineers an RBI.
He wasn't being greedy. He was just looking for a base knock, something to get his team going. Losers of six of their prior seven games, shut out in two of their last three, they were down 1-0 to Cincinnati in their first appearance in the single elimination Big 12 Tournament, played in the Globe Life Stadium in Arlington, where they were winless in six tries.
"We got to get hot," Sabins said in the top of the fourth inning during one of those inane mid-game manager interviews from the dugout. "We got cold late there. We got no hits currently, so we can start this party off by getting a knock.
"If we do that, maybe the Mountaineers will roll a little bit. Offensively, when it comes to momentum, if you can get something cooking, we have a very good offense that has been potent the year round.
"But sometimes you go in these cold spells. It takes a swing, an at bat, a barrel, a homer to get the boys cooking. Hopefully, that comes today."
Ask and ye shall receive.
Kyle West led off the bottom of fourth, ran the count full and then scorched one 108 miles an hour off his bat and sent it on a line into the right field seats.
"At the point of contact I kind of knew it was gone obviously, but I was feeling a weight lifted off our shoulders," West said. "I'm not saying I carry anybody by any means, but it was a moment of relief. It's like we were down, but this said 'Hey, it's not over yet.
"It's like setting the tone for the whole team, saying we're a relentless offense and that got the five-run inning started."
While it didn't exactly open the gates to a flash flood of base hits, it did ignite that five-run rally that led to a 10-3 victory and a 5 p.m. semifinal date with Arizona on Friday., a team that won two of three from WVU earlier this year, including a war that lasted 16 innings.
That fourth inning rally was constructed more of balsa wood than concrete, but it did the job and as victory starved as this team that had won 13 and 14 games in a row during the regular season, it was warmly welcomed.
True, Jace Rinehart followed the home run by striking out, but there was no out as the third strike came on a wild pitch. At that point Cincinnati brought on reliever Adam Buczkowski on to pitch but he hit White and walked Logan Sauve to load the bases without anyone so much as hitting a fair ball.
Spencer Barnett had an infield single for a second run in the inning, then after a force play at the plate, Grant Hussey hit a bouncer back at the mound. It looked like it would be a kick in the rear to the rally but instead was a shot to the nose of Buczkowski.
He took it flush in the face, left with a bloody nose while WVU had yet another run without hitting a ball out of the infield.
Brody Kresser then hit a sacrifice fly, Skylar King walked to reload the bases and then West walked to bring home the fifth run.
It wasn't Murderer's Row, but it got the job done and set up Griffin Kirn to record his fifth win against two defeats and for WVU to for the first time in its history to register 41 victories in a season.
Oddly, Sabins called the turning point in the game Rinehart's hustle after striking out.
"I thought one of the biggest turning points came with a dude who leads the Big 12 in doubles in Jace Rinehart," Sabins said. "He was seeing the ball that well today and he swung and missed and struck out. The ball went to the backstop and he hauled ass down the first base line immediately.
"That mentality from a guy who has been so good for so long, to not kind of jog down the line personifies what we're trying to do and what this team is capable of. If he's willing to sprint down the line after striking out, then anybody can and from that point on the at bats got better and better and better."
Kirn had gotten off to a shaky start, walking the leadoff and giving up an RBI double to catcher Jack Natali, who had himself a 4-for-4 day, missing hitting for the cycle by missing the triple as he doubled twice, singled and homered.
From there the game was in Kirn's hands, throwing 129 pitches while giving up eight hits and striking out nine. More important than the pitch count was his strike out, throwing 93 pitches for strikes and just 36 for balls.
"Griffin Kirn was ridiculous," Sabins said. "I gave him the ball to start the game and I never gave it to anyone else. He threw 129 pitches and threw every pitch with conviction and grit."
It was a heroic performance and Sabins said that was what was needed to light the fire.
"Things haven't been going great for us the past two weeks," the coach said. "All it takes it one heroic performance. It takes someone to get the ball or to have a great at bat. Both Griff and West played a big role in flipping the script today.
"To go nine innings and throw a complete game in his first Big 12 Tournament game or to have West hit a ball about 150 miles an hour through the bleachers. It was a thing of beauty."
The Bearcats managed two runs off Kirn in the fifth to draw to within 5-3 but in the sixth WVU scored three times, Kresser driving in one run with a single and White two more with a base hit.
And then WVU left no doubt as it reached double figures with two runs in the seventh after loading the bases on Spencer Barnett's walk, Gavin Kelly's single and perfect bunt single by Grant Hussey as he was asked to sacrifice.
Kresser's sacrifice fly drove in one of those runs and King's infield ground out the other.