A 10-run mercy rule was enforced as West Virginia baseball dominated rival Pitt in the first edition of the 2025 Backyard Brawl series on the diamond. The convincing win over rival Pitt was surely a treat for WVU fans after watching the Mountaineers stumble against Pitt in football and men's basketball in recent months.
But the biggest victory of the night last Wednesday didn't come on the diamond, but rather in the stands of Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark. As the Mountaineers earned their Backyar Brawl win in front of a record-setting crowd.
According to WVU Baseball’s X account, 4,629 fans were in attendance to witness the Backyard Brawl, setting a new all-time single-game attendance record for the program. The final figure eclipses the previous record by a small but significant 15 fans -- that record was also set in a rendition of the Backyard Brawl, as 4,614 fans turned out for the rivalry matchup on April 16th, 2024.
4️⃣,6️⃣2️⃣9️⃣
— WVU Baseball (@WVUBaseball) April 3, 2025
A new attendance record for baseball in Morgantown 🥳#HailWV pic.twitter.com/Adh5YNrKzd
It also marks just the seventh time the Mountaineers have turned out 4,000+ fans to a game -- three of those seven games were home editions of the Backyard Brawl, while five of the seven games have occurred since the 2023 season. In addition, seven of the Top 10 most-attended WVU baseball games in history have also come since 2023.
Almost everything went in favor of the Mountaineers last Wednesday. Setting an attendance record is always a huge win for any program, but doing so during a dominant win over your biggest rival program is even better.
The Mountaineers walked away with 11 runs scored in the victory, and many WVU hitters fared well against the Panthers' pitchers. On the flip side, only one run was given up to Pitt as the WVU handled their business defensively in front of a=the record crowd. The win marks the eight straight victory for WVU in the Backyard Brawl on the diamond, dating back to 2022.
The Mountaineers are now 27-4 after this past weekend's sweep of a two-game series against Big 12 opponent Utah, and they will travel west again this weekend for a three-game series against Houston. The Mountaineers will also cap the Backyard Brawl series this spring against Pitt when they travel to Charles L. Cost Field in Pittsburgh on Tuesday, May 6th for a clash with the Panthers.