GRANVILLE — We flash back a few years ago to begin this story, back when Randy Mazey was still the head coach of the WVU baseball program and Parkersburg native Grant Hussey was just about to set the school record for career home runs.

An in-state kid was about to set a record in one of the most prestigious stat categories in all of sports for his home state university, which would make you think Hussey was just brimming with excitement and enthusiasm.

Those who know Hussey already know he’s a pretty calm, collected and humble dude, one who would indeed celebrate if he ever won the lottery, but likely wouldn’t jump up and down for hours on end if that ever happened.

And so, when Hussey was sort of ho-hum about the upcoming achievement, I asked him why he wasn’t more excited. That’s when he let me in on a little secret.

“Just wait and see the type of guys who are going to be playing for this program in the years to come,” Hussey predicted. “The record probably isn’t going to stand for that long.”

It was that type of knowledge, foreshadowing if you will, that leads us to today, when the ninth-ranked Mountaineers (39-14) will be hosting a NCAA tournament regional for just the third time since 1954.

The last time it happened — in 2019 — you would have thought school officials were handing out free season tickets for the WVU football season there were so many people crammed into Kendrick Family Ballpark. It will likely be that type of atmosphere once again, when WVU faces Binghamton at 5 p.m. today.

“I know it’s sold out,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said Thursday. “I’ve seen on StubHub and SeatGeek that tickets are going for $2,500.”

Not that Sabins was looking to buy some tickets.

“I tried to put a few of mine on there to see what they would go for,” he joked.

In any case, the Mountaineers will eventually close out a four-year run in the days or weeks to come that saw WVU play in four consecutive NCAA tournaments. Three of those seasons will be 40-win seasons. In the entire history of the program, there’s only been one other 40-win season.

WVU is also shooting for its third consecutive trip to a super regional, which is the Sweet 16 of college baseball.

Hosting NCAA tournaments, competing for Big 12 titles, super regionals; all of that would have blown your mind just a decade ago when thinking about WVU baseball.

What WVU will experience this weekend — especially if the Mountaineers advance — is the program reaching an absolute pinnacle worth the highest of praise.

And that’s where Sabins begs to differ. What happens this weekend is worth celebrating, he agrees with that, but in terms of agreeing with WVU reaching the peak of its potential, not even close.

“When we hosted in 2019, it felt like we had accomplished something,” Sabins said. “Human nature in general sometimes, when you reach that bar, sometimes people can feel comfortable.

“We haven’t accomplished anything yet. We’re trying to do things that have never been done in program history. That’s why we’re all here.”

To be sure, Sabins is talking about taking WVU to Omaha, Nebraska, for the College World Series. He’s talking about winning multiple Big 12 titles and hosting multiple regionals again and again until fans’ expectations become numb to the experience.

He’s talking about taking what the Mountaineers have accomplished these last four seasons and making that the floor, not the ceiling.

To do it, quite simply, Sabins needs some really good Jimmies and Joes on his future rosters, which brings us back to Hussey’s prediction. Hussey saw a future that led to higher expectations and accomplishments for WVU players.

A few years later, WVU’s current players are also predicting the same.

“I see a lot of championships, a lot of regional hosts and a lot of super regional hosts,” said WVU infielder Brodie Kresser, who will be playing in his third NCAA tournament at WVU. “The level that’s been set already is high. We just keep on climbing. You name it, better attendance, just everything.”

Sabins’ mention of the second-hand ticket market for this regional led him to how he one day envisions the program. That vision goes far beyond wins and losses and recruiting. He one day pictures a baseball monument of a stadium in Morgantown, where there are so many seats available that one doesn’t need $2,500 to simply get into the arena.

“It’s probably about time we build more seats here, clearly,” Sabins said. “It’s part of the process of building a program and building something special is that you have to win to drum up that excitement for those things to happen.

“As this program continues to build, I just look forward to what’s in store, because we have not reached a ceiling. We have not come close to a ceiling. There are better days ahead for Mountaineers baseball.”