Steve Sabins could not have asked for a better start to his WVU baseball head coaching career. With the same snow that has made practicing in Morgantown so difficult to start the year still falling in the background, Sabins spoke about sweeping Jacksonville this past weekend during his first post-series press conference on Monday morning. Traditionally in college baseball, the offenses have the upper hand to start the season – but this was not the case for the Mountaineers as the starters were impressive and the bullpen only allowed three runs over 13.2 innings.
Make no mistake about it: the Mountaineers have high expectations to uphold the tradition set by Randy Mazey, who retired last year after leading the team to its best season in program history. Sabins, who was handpicked by Mazey, was asked about the emotions he had during his first series as the head coach.
“It was a ton of fun, but it was exhausting mentally,” he replied. “It was very exciting in the game. The best way to describe it is when you are doing something you really love, the time passes really quickly. It’s kind of like a flow state situation and there’s nothing else going on… Then, as soon as the game is over, you feel like you got hit by a train. You need to hydrate and eat and go to bed kind of feeling.”
All Around Team Effort
It wasn’t just a team effort on the field; Sabins also relied heavily on his coaches to assist him, enabling him to make the decisions that best benefited the team.
“The most impressive thing from the weekend was what the staff did,” he said. “Coach (Justin) Oney, for example, he called pitches for the first time in Division I competition. That’s hard to do… Sending the pitch in to the catcher electronically on every single pitch while it’s on a time clock. You have to make hundreds of decisions during a game and make sure those decisions line up with the scouting reports based on the hitter’s strengths and weaknesses, the base runner’s ability to steal and our pitcher’s strengths.”
Balancing Act
With nearly 20 pitchers on the staff and a roster comprised of both returning and transfer players, he must balance his lineup not only for what’s best that day, but also for the rest of the season.
“We had three different No. 3-hole hitters in each of the first three games. If you would see that traditionally, you might say ‘I don’t know if this guy’s playing to win. Is he playing his best nine on a daily basis?’” Sabins said. “I really believe we were. There are some ebbs and flows, but I want to see who can perform early in the season. We had a lot of different lineups. I think Game 1 featured 7 different left-handed hitters. Game 2 we had 3 left-handed hitters and 6 right-handed hitters because of matchups. Their second game pitcher was 78 points worse against right-handed hitting and we exposed that.”
The goal is to have the lineup settled by the time conference play resumes in mid-March. Until then, Sabins will focus on building confidence in the young players, giving them meaningful innings without sacrificing the team’s momentum. It’s a delicate balancing act, but one that he seems more than prepared to handle.
By: Mitch Rogers, WVSN
New Era Begins: Sabins Guides WVU to Sweep in First Series
by WV THE TORCH • Recent Posts 0 Comments
Steve Sabins could not have asked for a better start to his WVU baseball head coaching career. With the same snow that has made practicing in Morgantown so difficult to start the year still falling in the background, Sabins spoke about sweeping Jacksonville this past weekend during his first post-series press conference on Monday morning. Traditionally in college baseball, the offenses have the upper hand to start the season – but this was not the case for the Mountaineers as the starters were impressive and the bullpen only allowed three runs over 13.2 innings.
Make no mistake about it: the Mountaineers have high expectations to uphold the tradition set by Randy Mazey, who retired last year after leading the team to its best season in program history. Sabins, who was handpicked by Mazey, was asked about the emotions he had during his first series as the head coach.
“It was a ton of fun, but it was exhausting mentally,” he replied. “It was very exciting in the game. The best way to describe it is when you are doing something you really love, the time passes really quickly. It’s kind of like a flow state situation and there’s nothing else going on… Then, as soon as the game is over, you feel like you got hit by a train. You need to hydrate and eat and go to bed kind of feeling.”
All Around Team Effort
It wasn’t just a team effort on the field; Sabins also relied heavily on his coaches to assist him, enabling him to make the decisions that best benefited the team.
“The most impressive thing from the weekend was what the staff did,” he said. “Coach (Justin) Oney, for example, he called pitches for the first time in Division I competition. That’s hard to do… Sending the pitch in to the catcher electronically on every single pitch while it’s on a time clock. You have to make hundreds of decisions during a game and make sure those decisions line up with the scouting reports based on the hitter’s strengths and weaknesses, the base runner’s ability to steal and our pitcher’s strengths.”
Balancing Act
With nearly 20 pitchers on the staff and a roster comprised of both returning and transfer players, he must balance his lineup not only for what’s best that day, but also for the rest of the season.
“We had three different No. 3-hole hitters in each of the first three games. If you would see that traditionally, you might say ‘I don’t know if this guy’s playing to win. Is he playing his best nine on a daily basis?’” Sabins said. “I really believe we were. There are some ebbs and flows, but I want to see who can perform early in the season. We had a lot of different lineups. I think Game 1 featured 7 different left-handed hitters. Game 2 we had 3 left-handed hitters and 6 right-handed hitters because of matchups. Their second game pitcher was 78 points worse against right-handed hitting and we exposed that.”
The goal is to have the lineup settled by the time conference play resumes in mid-March. Until then, Sabins will focus on building confidence in the young players, giving them meaningful innings without sacrificing the team’s momentum. It’s a delicate balancing act, but one that he seems more than prepared to handle.
By: Mitch Rogers, WVSN