GRANVILLE — If the 17th-ranked WVU baseball team isn’t in the middle of a full-blown collapse, the Mountaineers, at the very least, are on extremely unstable ground.
The regular-season finale — at 1 p.m. today inside Kendrick Family Ballpark — is all that’s left before the start of postseason play, and the Mountaineers have suddenly turned into a shell of the team that once owned the highest winning percentage in the nation.
Kansas continued its power-hitting purge, highlighted by Brady Ballinger’s three-run home run that cleared the bullpen in left field in a five-run fourth inning, as the Jayhawks raced past the Mountaineers 8-5.
“I thought we played very poorly and didn’t execute,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “I thought it was one of our worst games of the season when it comes to execution. It was one of our worst games of the season, and I’m responsible for that and preparing our guys to be able to play good baseball. Tonight we didn’t play very good baseball.”
The situation as it stands: The Mountaineers lost their second consecutive conference series and just may find themselves outside of the national rankings when they are released Sunday.
And that’s the least of WVU’s concerns at the moment.
The bigger issues revolve around WVU having lost seven of its last 10 games heading into today’s third game against the Jayhawks (41-14, 19-10 Big 12) and is in danger of playing itself right out of regional host spot in the NCAA tournament.
Other than that, WVU (40-12, 19-8) is struggling mightily at the plate. The Mountaineers are a combined 5 for 29 (.172) with runners on base in the two games against Kansas.
Pitching is also a struggle. WVU starting pitcher Gavin Van Kempen was pulled after throwing just 19 pitches in the first inning, nine of which were balls. He gave up a leadoff double, struck out Jackson Hague and walked Brady Counsell in the three hitters he faced.
Relievers Ben McDougal and Chase Meyer were tagged for seven runs over the four innings they worked, with Ballinger hitting his home run off Meyer that gave the Jayhawks a 6-2 lead.
And then there were just some mental lapses that cost the Mountaineers dearly.
Grant Hussey got caught leaning back to first base rather than running out a slow grounder down the line. He was thrown out at second base.
Sauve got held up getting to a wild pitch that got to the backstop in the fifth inning, which allowed Counsell to score from second base. That gave Kansas a 7-2 lead.
“It’s OK if you lose, as long as you play hard,” said WVU outfielder Kyle West, who finished with four hits, including a solo home run. “(Sabins) mentioned to us this loss was unacceptable. There were a couple of blunders throughout the game that lacked execution. It’s a lot to learn from. Other than that, there’s not much to say.”
Not that WVU head coach Steve Sabins didn’t try and pull a few tricks out of his sleeve to change up WVU’s mojo.
He moved guys around in the Mountaineers’ batting order and put junior Chase Swain back into the starting lineup at third base.
He had Hussey bunt unexpectedly with two strikes in an attempt to move teammates Logan Sauve and Skylar King into scoring position. The bunt attempt went foul for a strike out and then Swain hit into a double play to end the threat.
In the later innings, Sabins began with mass substitutions. That sparked a mini rally. Ellis Garcia came off the bench and hit a two-run home run in the ninth inning.
WVU reliever Robby Porco, who hasn’t pitched since April 2, threw the last four innings and allowed just one hit and no runs. He struck out five.
None of it was enough to stop the Mountaineers’ slide, though.
“I truly think we were prepared to play tonight,” West said. “The chips just didn’t fall our way.”
