True Freshmen are Making the Most of Their Early Opportunities for WVU Baseball

If things had gone according to plan this season, true freshman Mikey Kluska would not have seen much playing time for West Virginia baseball this season. He certainly would not have started all 10 of the Mountaineeers’ games so far and be leading the team in hit (13) and RBI (nine).

The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry, as they say, and several underclassmen have been thrust into the lineup and onto the mound for WVU this season. A season-ending injury to starting shortstop Tevin Tucker open the door for Kluska to see the field a lot in his first season.

“From the day I got here, I wasn’t really focused on playing time or anything,” Kluska said. “I just took it day by day and tried to work as hard as I can and get better and improve myself and let the rest come. It’s terrible what happened to Tevin, but I’m just trying to help our team and do the best I can.”

In 10 starts, Kluska is batting .351 with two home runs, nine RBI and five runs scored. He has had multiple hits in each of WVU’s last four games. On Saturday, Kluska had three hits, four RBI and hit the walk-off home run in WVU’s 8-7 win over visiting Central Michigan.

“He really is that guy that’s just a worker,” assistant coach Steve Sabins said. “He’s been a worker since his sophomore year when we recruited him as a West Virginia high school player. He wouldn’t have gotten all of these moments if Tevin Tucker hadn’t gotten injured originally and he’s just taken it and ran with it and gotten better. Good things happen to good people and good kids and people that work and that was certainly an example of that.”

Walk. It. Off. 💥#HailWV | @kluska_mikey25 pic.twitter.com/0SiI4mTyW9

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) March 14, 2021

A native of White Sulphur Spring, West Virginia, Kluska said the Fall was an important time for him to adjust to the speed of college baseball.

“The game’s just a lot faster [than high school],” Kluska said. “The Fall was really big for me seeing the faster arms, the way ground balls were hit harder, everything. The biggest adjustment is the game speeding up and just trying to slow it down in big moments.”

Kluska is far from the only underclassman contributing for WVU this season. Due to COVID-19 protocols, West Virginia was forced to start seven underclassmen in all three games against CMU this weekend. One of those underclassmen was true freshman catcher McGwire Holbrook, who started all three games against the Chippewas. Holbrook went 2 for 8 on the weekend, with two walks and hit his first career home run on Saturday. He also threw out a would-be base stealer.

Sabins said Holbrook is one of the most-liked members of the team and that they needed him to play because the usual catchers, Paul McIntosh and Vince Ippoliti, were both unavailable

“He wants to play and he got thrown into the fire because we didn’t have a choice,” Sabins said. “Before the series, McGwire came up to myself and he wanted to be back there, he made that very evident. Sometimes when freshmen want the ball or want the at-bat, they don’t always answer the call because their eyes are sometimes a little bigger than their stomach. He answered the call.”

Holbrook’s home run came when WVU was trailing 5-1 in the second game of the doubleheader Saturday afternoon. After losing the first two games of the series, Sabins said Holbrook’s home run provided a boost the team desperately needed.

“He hit the homer that made it 5-2 and it just showed life,” Sabins said. “It showed life in the dugout, it showed that we weren’t going to quit, it showed that a freshman could stand in there and do something that the team needed. That’s how guys grow up so it was really cool for a guy like McGwire to have success.”

Give it a ride 🚀#HailWV | @mcgwireh25 pic.twitter.com/Iihtvwutd2

— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) March 13, 2021

Also starting on Saturday were true freshmen Nathan Blasick, who went 2 for 8 with a triple and an RBI, Ben Abernathy and William Bean. True freshmen Ben Hampton, Trevor Sharp and Blasick also made appearances on the mound for WVU this series.

“There’s not any ‘hey, we need an older guy, a veteran with experience to make a play’ because we had seven freshmen in the lineup again today,” Sabins said. “The two kids that hit homers were both true freshmen so there’s no time to look around for an older guy with experience to make the big play. They needed to do it and they did it. It was certainly a growth opportunity and we’re all certainly proud of them for it.”

Every member of WVU’s 2021 freshman class has seen the field so far this season. Outfielder Ben Braden has played in seven games this season and pitchers Tyler Chadwick, Carlson Reed and Ben Abernathy have also thrown innings for the Mountaineers.

“It’s been a blast,” Kluska said. “Everyone’s been able to get a lot of opportunities. McGwire really wanted this weekend to prove himself and show what he could do and he did that. We were super, super happy for him. Everyone’s got their shot and played well and helped our team with all these guys out.”

West Virginia will be at home for the entire month of March. The Mountaineers’ next series will be two games against Morehead State on Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Both games are scheduled to start at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.