Both Coaches Acknowledge Importance of Defense in WVU Baseball’s Loss to Kentucky

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – As proud as Steve Sabins was in his team after Saturday’s 11-9 NCAA Regional loss to Kentucky, a loss is a loss. WVU Baseball still lost despite a continuous effort to mount comebacks throughout the night.

And while a game with 19 combined runs may seem like it came down to who delivered one extra swing, it actually came down to defense.

The biggest game of West Virginia’s season to date came down some errant throws and playing below their normal standard defensively. WVU committed two errors in the game, a rarity for the Mountaineers.

Sabins even touched on the uniqueness of losing in the manner in which they did after the game.

When WVU scores, they usually win. But that was not the case in their second game of the Morgantown Regional, failing to win after scoring nine or more runs for the first time in 23 games this season.

Sabins wouldn’t pinpoint poor defense being the only factor that led to the loss, but admitted they have to be more fundamentally sound to win in the NCAA Tournament.

Fundamentals Fail WVU Baseball Despite Uncharacteristic Comeback

“I think we made big pitches in big moments, and they got big hits in big moments,” Mountaineers head coach Steve Sabins said in his postgame press conference. “But in general, it wasn’t our cleanest game, that’s for sure… We didn’t play our best game, we weren’t really clean on defense. We gave away a ton of free passes, just didn’t play a really good ball game, but obviously the effort and the intensity was there.”

Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione went one step further and feels big defensive plays were the difference in a back and forth game.

“You know, you bring up a great point and whenever I talk to the team, that’s the first thing I talk about is our pitching and defense. Because it starts and ends with that. If you can’t do those two things, you have no shot at winning,” he said.

“And offense is fun, don’t get me wrong, but if you can’t pitch and defend, you can’t win. That’s the bottom line… unbelievable defense — and West Virginia’s an amazing team, they’re as well coached as any team. Sabins and I are both Embry-Riddle grads by the way, for the record, we both have a degree from there — but it was gonna take a special defensive play, and you can never underestimate the importance of one run.”

WVU will face Wake Forest with their season on the line at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 31. The winner of that game will advance to face Kentucky in the second leg of a doubleheader that evening.

Find more coverage of the WVU baseball program at WV Sports Now.