WVU Baseball Set Up for Record-Setting Fan Support

It’s only the third week of the season and WVU baseball has already broken a record. Not the Mountaineers’ 8-0 start to the year, the team’s best start since 1964, but instead home opener attendance record.

A record 2,505 people attended West Virginia’s 8-4 victory over Ohio Wednesday afternoon, the most to ever attend a WVU baseball home opener.

“I thought the energy in the stadium was electric,” first-year WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “At least half of our guys have never played at Kendrick Family Ballpark, so for them to feel the energy and some of the excitement at the end of the game was really cool.”

Weather undoubtedly played a factor, the sunny, 50-degree day was much more inviting than what home openers have had in the past.

“I don’t think it’s ever been this nice at this time of the year,” senior first baseman Grant Hussey quipped. “Usually, it’s 30 degrees and snowing.”

Wednesday’s attendance continued the trend of growing support for a program that has been on a steady rise over the past six years. Crowds piled into Kendrick Family Ballpark and set attendance records as the season went on last year, but the team has never had a crowd like Wednesday’s this early in a season.

“Never,” said Sabins, who spent the last nine seasons as an assistant coach. “The crowd was insane.”

The program has sold a record number of season tickets this year and is close to selling out of season tickets entirely.

“The support is amazing,” junior catcher Logan Sauve said. “We definitely feel the support in Morgantown from the fans. That always helps us play better because we play for them.”

“Having that support, you know people are going to be here no matter what,” Hussey added.

In recent years, the Mountaineers have started the season playing in front of dozens of fans and watched the crowds grow as the year progressed and the team performed well. Coming off of back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances and the program’s first Super Regional, however, this year, the support is here from the start.

“This is only going to grow,” Sabins said. “If this is what it’s like in February, imagine when the weather is wonderful and we’re playing conference games. This is what (the players) signed up for and if you’re going to be a Mountaineer baseball player, you have to learn how to feed off the energy and play better when the fans are here like that.”

WVU baseball is scheduled to play a four-game series against Queens in North Carolina this weekend, playing Friday through Monday. All four games will be on ESPN+. The Mountaineers return to Kendrick Family Ballpark for a three-game series against Kennesaw State beginning on Friday, March 7.