MORGANTOWN — It is the rare oddity, the trying something different, if you will, that catches your eye in sports.
To be frank, it’s that philosophy that has made WVU baseball coach Steve Sabins a successful and interesting figure among WVU athletics. There is certainly no stone he’ll leave left unturned when it comes to finding talent, whether that’s scouring the Division II ranks, the nation of Canada and just about everywhere in between.
The No. 9 Mountaineers (35-12, 19-8 Big 12) will host TCU in a three-game series beginning at 6:30 p.m. Thursday with so much on the line, including a possible Big 12 championship – depending greatly on what No. 14 Kansas does against BYU – and the right to host a NCAA regional for the first time since 2019.
That, in itself, tells you many of Sabins’ decisions have paid dividends. One of those decisions he’s very defensive about, or more to the point, a large part behind the Mountaineers’ success is their defense.
That defense ranks 16th in the nation – tops in the Big 12 – in fielding percentage (.981). There are only 11 schools in the country that can boast they’ve committed less errors on the season than the Mountaineers.
Here’s the oddity: WVU has gone the entire season without a true first baseman, and one could argue, a true third baseman. Armani Guzman, who rotates between the outfield and first base, has to borrow a teammate’s glove whenever he plays first base.
Second baseman Gavin Kelly also doubles as a catcher, “That’s a unicorn,” Sabins said of that combination. “That guy doesn’t exist.”
And the real oddity of WVU’s defense is on most nights there are four shortstops manning the infield positions for the Mountaineers.
Now, that’s not exactly the same as Ross Hodge putting out a WVU men’s basketball starting lineup that includes four point guards or four power forwards or football coach Rich Rodriguez going with four tight ends playing along his offensive line, but taking four former shortstops and saying, “Hey, we need you to learn new positions,” can still be a bit tricky.
Brodie Kresser, who was WVU’s starting shortstop for two seasons, now rotates between first and second base.
“Kresser is playing out of his mind,” Sabins said. “He’s been incredible for us for so long.”
Tyrus Hall was a shortstop most of his life, and was a shortstop at Bossier Parish (La.) Community College, where Sabins recruited him.
“Tyrus Hall is the best third baseman I’ve ever coached,” Sabins said.
Guzman, he too, was a high school shortstop in the state of Georgia. Coming out of high school, he was ranked the 96th best shortstop in the country.
“Our running joke every day is he’s a shortstop and I’ve screwed up by not putting him at shortstop his whole career,” Sabins said. “He’s a great first baseman and has played exceptionally well over there. It might be his best position.”
That leaves Matt Ineich, a transfer from Ohio U., the one shortstop who got to remain a shortstop this season.
When you look at WVU’s defensive numbers now, it’s easy to say the experiment worked. Sabins admits he didn’t know how it was going to look at the start of the season.
“I had an idea with the athleticism,” he said. “The biggest one I didn’t know was Tyrus Hall doing what he has done. I felt confident with what Kresser has done. I didn’t know about Armani, because he never played first until the spring started, so we had no idea there.
“Tyrus Hall has been the biggest X factor, because I have never seen a college third baseman play like he’s played. We take for granted now high choppers, throws on the run and diving double plays. If you watch a game, you get to see a Tyrus Hall highlight.”
Turns out it did work out, even if it looks a bit untraditional at times. Then again, untraditional has never seemed to faze Sabins.
Yeah, let’s just take four shortstops and spread them out in the infield. Oh, and here’s a first baseman’s glove for one of you guys. And oh, one of you will also have to play catcher sometimes.
That’s your WVU defense.
“It’s the best defense I’ve coached here in my 11 seasons,” Sabins said.
