West Virginia University’s baseball team, once riding high with a dominant start to the season, finds itself in a precarious position heading into the final weekend of regular-season play.
Under first-year head coach Steve Sabins, the Mountaineers opened the season with a stunning 14-game winning streak and quickly established themselves as a force in the Big 12 Conference. But recently, the team’s momentum has slowed considerably.
WVU now needs just one more win to clinch the Big 12 regular season title, yet their recent play raises questions about whether they can pull it off. The Mountaineers have lost three of their last four games and five of their last eight overall. Their bullpen, once a strength, has begun to falter under pressure — most notably in back-to-back collapses that cost the team key wins.
Two relievers, Reese Bassinger and Carson Estridge, were hit hard in their recent outings at Kansas State, combining to allow 13 runs (12 earned) on 11 hits across just over four innings. In the most painful moments, WVU gave up five runs to Pitt in the ninth inning to lose, then surrendered six runs in the ninth to Kansas State, followed by seven in a late rally by the Wildcats.
Some observers wonder whether WVU’s softer strength of schedule — ranked around 170 nationally before the Kansas State series — may have contributed to their late-season stumble. Or perhaps this is just a natural slump that many teams encounter during a long, grueling season. Either way, these recent struggles place a heavy burden on Coach Sabins.
Despite the setbacks, Sabins has shown composure and strategic thinking throughout his debut season. He’s effectively used his pitching staff, easing Jack Kartsonas into the starting rotation and leveraging advanced metrics to gain competitive advantages.
He’s also navigated key injuries and continued to keep the Mountaineers in contention for a league title — something no WVU baseball team has ever taken lightly.
But now comes Sabins’ biggest challenge yet: getting his team mentally back on track. The late-season stretch is no longer just about physical performance — it’s about leadership, resilience, and belief. This is when a coach truly earns his stripes. The pressure is real, and the expectations are high.
Sabins’ situation echoes that of baseball legends like Jim Leyland and Sparky Anderson. Leyland had to win a World Series with the Marlins before he was viewed as a serious Hall of Fame contender, despite earlier successes with the Pirates.
Similarly, Anderson wasn’t widely recognized early in his career despite leading a loaded Reds team. Sometimes, it’s not just about the wins — it’s about when and how those wins come.
As WVU prepares for a potential NCAA Regional — possibly hosted in Morgantown — and dreams of a Super Regional and a long-awaited trip to the College World Series in Omaha, Sabins must find a way to reignite the fire that fueled the team’s early success. He has shown he has the tools, but now it’s about execution under pressure.
The coming weeks will determine not just how this season is remembered, but also how Sabins is viewed as a leader. Winning games is one thing; winning when it matters most is what defines greatness.
