The Sock 'Em, Bust 'Em Board Because that's our custom

Once more, with PING!

May 16, 2017 by Mike Casazza

Personally, I can’t get enough of stuff like this, and if West Virginia is going to continue this practice, I’m all for it. The stuff manager Randy Mazey opens and closes with about how a mid-week game at PNC Park is useful preparation for the Big 12 tournament is seemingly obtuse, but he’s convincing.

So, too, is his team.

That game, which the Mountaineers won, was the start of a rebound that had to happen. WVU lost to Penn State a day before and had its RPI drop seven spots. Beating the Nittany Lions a day later and then taking both games from Gardner-Webb after Friday’s game was cancelled was the best the team could do. The bats woke up in the first game against the Bulldogs. On Sunday, Manoah! got his first win and allowed one run while striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings. His final strikeout came with two outs in the sixth, but the runner reached base, and Mazey gave Manoah the hook.

The RPI remains at No. 20 today, and a win tonight against Pitt, which is No. 133 in the RPI won’t help a lot, but it won’t hurt, either. A loss will hurt, and WVU can’t have that if it hopes to host a regional. We really can’t speculate on what it would take to get one, but a win tonight is a must. After that, there are three games at very good Texas, where and when WVU hopes Michael Grove returns to the mound, and then the Big 12 tournament. WVU can use both to get a regional assignment.

If we’re being honest, WVU needs to win tonight and probably nothing else. If it’s swept by Texas and then goes 0-2 in the Big 12 tournament, the RPI won’t drop much, and the Mountaineers will still be six games better than .500. But nothing is guaranteed. If you’re hopeful the selection committee will be benevolent and reward a good story, you missed last year’s nonsense. If you hope selection committees outside of basketball operate with logic, you missed what happened to Minnesota’s softball team this year. Those same Gophers are now the top-ranked team in the country, according to the coaches’ poll.