WVU baseball takes 2 of 3 from Oklahoma State

After getting swept by Canisius earlier in the week, the WVU baseball team took two of three from one of the best teams in the Big 12, Oklahoma State.

The Mountaineers were outscored by Canisius, a traditional opponent, but one not exactly known for its prowess on the baseball diamond, outscored WVU, 16-5 in a two-game series.

“I don’t know if I’ve ever been a part of something like that,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said.

The effort that seemingly wasn’t there against Canisius was there against the Cowboys.

West Virginia won a thrilling, 5-4 contest in 10 innings on Friday night, then beat OSU by a 4-3 score on Saturday. The Cowboys left Morgantown with an 8-1 victory on Sunday. Still, the Mountaineers were able to win the series early on and gain major traction in the race for the Big 12 Conference crown.

The Mountaineers are now 4-4 in the conference. The WVU baseball team opened conference play by getting swept by TCU, but rebounded by taking two from Kansas.

Oklahoma State entered the series with the Mountaineers ranked No. 16 in the country, sporting a spotless 4-0 record in the Big 12. WVU handed OSU its first two conference losses of the season.

"“If you had told me coming in, ‘would you take two out of three against these guys?’ I sure would,” Mazey said. “It’s always disappointing taking two out of three when you’ve already taken two out of two, but in the big picture, great weekend for the Mountaineers.”"

For the series, Jimmy Galusky collected four hits, Ivan Vera had three hits and Jackson Cremer had five hits. No hit was bigger than Cremer’s 10th inning blast on Friday.

He belted a walk-off home run that lifted the Mountaineers to a 5-4 victory.

"“I thought it was going to hit off the wall, so I was booking it,” Cramer said of his game-winning home run. “When I saw that it went over and saw everybody at home plate, it was fun, that last 90 feet running toward them was a great memory. That was my first walk-off homerun, I never had one before. I’ve always dreamed about it as a little kid. Everyone wants to do that once in their life, and I’m glad I finally got mine.”"

The Mountaineers had 24 hits in the past three games. That kind of offense will take them far this season.

With an influx of young players getting hacks early on, the development of the underclassmen will be key for West Virginia.

What’s even more intriguing about this WVU baseball team seems to be its ability to bounce back. Being so young, with 23 freshman and sophomores on the roster, having the wherewithal to not get too down is a good trait to have.

Former WVU baseball player Andy Altemus pointed out a key fact this past week.

That very well could be this year’s trend.

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