That’s the Kansas skipper, and consider him impressed by what he saw Saturday. Sophomore Michael Grove mowed down the Jayhawks and was four outs away from a perfect game before he allowed a two-out single on a 2-0 count in the eighth inning. He nevertheless pitched a tidy eight innings, allowing one hit and striking out 12 batters.

Another day, another headline for baseball.

Poor Kansas. The Mountaineers opened the series with a 10-1 win and B.J. Myers’ first career complete game, and that’s the guy who gets the ball first and gives opponents fits.

Myers pitched WVU’s first complete game of the season, allowing one run on five hits with a career-high-tying 10 strikeouts in 9.0 innings. He was backed up by an offense that scored 10 runs on eight hits, taking advantage of four Kansas errors. Eight of West Virginia’s 10 runs came with two outs.

“He started the game with three straight balls, went 3-0 on the leadoff guy, and came back and struck him out. That really set the tone for the rest of the game,” WVU coach Randy Mazey said. “He didn’t pitch that far behind in the count the rest of the night. He was throwing strikes. He’s that guy that hitters go back to the dugout not having any idea what pitches they saw. Different angles and speeds and moving different directions, that’s what makes BJ so good.”

Myers faced the minimum three batters in six of his nine innings. Behind him, the defense turned three double plays. Just two batters all night advanced past first base.

A day later, the Mountaineers won Grove’s start 8-0. That clinched a series victory for WVU (19-11, 6-3 Big 12), and despite Sunday’s loss, the team has won all three Big 12 series this season. There’s just one other Big 12 team that hasn’t lost a series, and there will only be one left at this time next week. No. 3 TCU, which is 8-1 in conference play, visits Monongalia County Ballpark next week for a three game series.

We need to come to grips with this: WVU is in the NCAA field as long as it maintains the course. That won’t be easy, because WVU also plays against No. 18 Oklahoma and No. 6 Texas Tech … and the Mountaineers have stumbled in both of the past two seasons … but the Mountaineers get the Horned Frogs, Sooners and Red Raiders at home. That’s part of a closing stretch that sees 15 of the last 24 games on the home turf.

WVU has won 17 of 20 at home these past two seasons, and given the way the Mountaineers are swinging, running and scoring, how they’re not losing games on walk-offs, seeing as if opponents are sliding past bags and getting fooled by routine pop flies that fall for three-run errors, we’re seeing tangible proof of a home-field advantage.

On most days, a ball can be swept from right to left or just pushed deeper into left field. That’s inviting for right-handed batters, but lefties understand the wind can help them, too, and some drives will rise or tail into gaps quicker.

Outfielders have plenty to think about. There’s fencing lining the right-field wall, a raised segment of the padded wall in left-center field and a tricky feature in left field with a wall that gets taller as it reaches the foul pole and then curves in foul territory while a stone wall towers above it.

“The first year I played in here, we didn’t know how to play at home,” Cramer said. “We weren’t used to it. We noticed the wind blows out to left pretty hard, and we’d kind of think about it, but now, playing here so long, we’re much more comfortable playing here and knowing the playing surface.

“It’s nice to have the fans behind you for a change, too. It gives you a lot more confidence. For us, playing so many games on the road, it makes it much more exciting to play at home. This is when we start to play our best baseball.”