During the sixth and seventh innings at Doug Kingsmore Stadium in Clemson, South Carolina, on Saturday, it felt like the Mountaineers were dead in the water.
Their early 4-0 lead evaporated in an instant, and the Tigers led 5-4 with just six outs to go for West Virginia.
However, despite the situation and the moment, the face of head coach Steve Sabins remained calm, and that feeling of security helped WVU mount another late-game comeback, this time to upset top-seeded Clemson and make it to the Regional Finals.
"I'm not sure. It's not a tactic or a strategy, necessarily. I think I'm thinking through the game, and I'm thinking through situations and pitchers. And so normally, in those hostile environments or those bigger moments, it sounds like I'm calmer," Sabins said.
Sabins and the Mountaineers had every opportunity to not stay calm, but they persevered for the second day in a row, rallying to get a win.
"I think in general, I've been through it more often. I've seen more big games. And so these guys want it so bad for themselves and the team. So if the staff can remain relatively calm and stay within themselves, I do think it helps the players," Sabins said.
Saturday's late-game heroics started in the eighth inning when Armani Guzman doubled to tie the game at 5-5. Then in the ninth, with two outs, Grant Hussey extended the inning with a walk, before Sam White doubled off the wall, scoring the go-ahead run. WVU added three more runs, taking a 9-5 lead into the bottom of the ninth.
Next came Chase Meyer, who was on his third inning of work at that point, and he got two quick outs before things started to unravel rather quickly.
Meyer would hand the ball to Ben McDougal in a 2-0 count with the winning run standing at the plate. McDougal would go strike, strike, ball, strike, getting a strikeout to end the game.
"Just seeing your leader kind of freak out, if he ever did, kind of would put a team a little on edge. Thankfully, he's always calm and collected and teaches us to be the same as him," Meyer said.
Sabins is in his first year as WVU's head coach, but has this team on the verge of history. West Virginia is making their first-ever back-to-back regional final appearances, while with one more win, they'd advance to back-to-back Super Regionals for the first time in program history.
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