WVU Baseball: Mountaineers Miss College World Series Field
By Ken Durbin
June 17, 2012; Omaha, NE, USA; Florida State Seminoles centerfielder James Ramsey (23) throws a beach ball back into the stands during the second inning of game five of the 2012 College World Series against the Stony Brook Seawolves at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports
It was a long shot kind of season for the West Virginia Mountaineers baseball club that overcame minimal expectations to put together a great 36-22 season. The Mountaineers were hoping to cash in on one more long shot and qualify for the College World Series. WVU’s long shot to make the tournament never materialized however as the Mountaineers did not make the field of 64 for the College World Series.
Three of West Virginia’s Big XII contemporaries qualified for the College World Series: Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, and Kansas State.
The Kansas State Wildcats earned the right to host a regional round this coming weekend. The Wildcats (41-17) will host cross-state foe Wichita State (39-26) of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Manhatten Regional will also pit Bryant (44-16-1) vs Arkansas (37-20).
Big XII tournament champion Oklahoma will have to hit the road this weekend as they qualified to be part of the Blacksburg Regional. The Sooners (40-19) will have to face Coastal Carolina (37-21) out of the Big South Conference. Should OU defeat the Chaminades, they will face the winner of host Virginia Tech (38-20) and Connecticut (34-26).
The Oklahoma State Cowboys (39-17), fresh off of a walk-off defeat at the hands of the West Virginia Mountaineers qualified for the Louisville Regional to square off in the first round against the Miami Hurricanes (36-23) of the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Cowboys, will also have to potentially face the Louisville Cardinals (46-12) after they roll over Bowling Green (24-29).
The NCAA Baseball Tournament is double elimination based in the Regional play, with the games running from Friday May 31 to Monday June 3.
The West Virginia Mountaineers, just missed the cut to make it into the NCAA tournament. Even though that is inescapably disappointing for the Mountaineers and their fans, it is remarkable that WVU has the opportunity to be upset about not earning an invite to the tournament in light of the expectations for this team this season.