Mazey finding out more about his West Virginia team
Early season games are about finding out what type of team you have as much as it is about winning or losing.
And through nine games Randy Mazey is starting to learn a little bit about his club.
Right-hander Gavin Van Kempen got the ball in the 10-3 home opening win against Canisius and for the most part pitched strong across four innings as he allowed just two runs on a pair of hits along with three free passes.
He also struck out four across his 69 pitches against the Golden Griffins.
“That’s as good as he’s pitched recently,” Mazey said.
The Mountaineers then used a combination of four different relievers over the next five innings with Maxx Yehl, Chase Meyer, Aidan Smith and Bryce Amos combining to allow just one run on two hits with seven strikeouts. The group did permit six walks and hit a pair of batters.
“It wasn’t pretty but tried to get some new guys in the game,” he said.
But overall, it was a good experience to test some players who hadn’t seen much action to test what they can do in live situations with an upcoming four-game road trip to Western Kentucky this weekend.
That series will have the Mountaineers play one game each on Friday and Sunday, with a double-header sandwiched in between on Saturday. So, while the results weren’t always pretty, it was a good experience.
“That really stresses you on the mound,” Mazey said. “You’ve got to find out who can do what.”
The Mountaineers continue to play without shortstop JJ Wetherholt who sustained a hamstring injury against Stetson while Brodie Kresser didn’t play against the Golden Griffins and pitchers left-hander Derek Clark and right-hander Robby Porco remain unavailable.
But that didn’t faze the team at all.
“Sometimes when your best players get hurt it’s like your whole team got hurt,” Mazey said. “We’re not playing that way. Our guys are going out there and playing with confidence.”
And outside an inning or two, Mazey has liked what he has seen this season from his team. Now, it will be about carrying the momentum from the home opener on the road to take on Western Kentucky.
----------
• Talk about it with West Virginia fans on The Blue Lot.
• SUBSCRIBE today to stay up on the latest on Mountaineer sports and recruiting.
• Get all of our WVU videos on YouTube by subscribing to the WVSports.com Channel
• Follow us on Twitter: @WVSportsDotCom, @rivalskeenan
