Not once, not twice, but three times this weekend, West Virginia had to come back and win the game in the eighth or ninth innings. West Virginia beat Kentucky on Friday, Clemson on Saturday, and then Kentucky again on Sunday, advancing to their second Super Regional in as many years.
"Special win, I think this team's been doubted throughout the season and it's the most resilient bunch of kids that I've ever had the pleasure of coaching," West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins said.
The Mountaineers trailed 12-7 entering the bottom of the eighth inning, before they scored six runs, all coming with two outs, taking a 13-12 lead.
In came Griffin Kirn, who threw 118 pitches on Friday night to get the final three outs and close the win for the Mountaineers.
"I think that's just the type of group we are all year. This is one of the closest groups of kids I've played with. And I [said] after that inning, I said we're gonna win this game. So there was just never any doubt throughout that team, throughout the whole game, and really the whole weekend. We all stuck with each other and played for each other and wished for the kid behind us to do better than what we just did," WVU catcher Logan Sauve said.
Sauve got the scoring started for West Virginia with a solo home run in the first inning, opening the floodgates for both offenses.
Kentucky scored the next six runs, before WVU scored the next six after that, taking a 7-6 lead. The Wildcats also then scored the next six runs, taking a 12-7 lead into the bottom of the eighth. The string of sixes continued as the Mountaineers scored that many runs in the eighth inning, leading them to another comeback win.
Armani Guzman delivered the go-ahead single for the Mountaineers in the eighth. After starting his first game since early May and his third since early April this weekend, Guzman went a combined 8-for-12 with six RBIs in WVU's three wins this weekend.
"I mean, there's no time limit, there's no clock, there's no time. It's just pitch by pitch, and that's how we approach it every single game. And in that moment, you gotta slow the game down and just kinda go pitch by pitch," Guzman said.
West Virginia now heads to their second Super Regional in as many years, facing the winner of the Baton Rouge Regional.
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