WVU Release Mountaineers Fall to Texas in Final Game of Regular Season

[Vernon]

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (May 20, 2023) – Having already clinched at least a share of its first Big 12 title, the No. 6 West Virginia baseball team looked for the outright title on Saturday, but ultimately came up short against Texas, 7-3. The Mountaineers share the title with the Longhorns as well as Oklahoma State as all teams finished 15-9 in conference play, the first time in Big 12 history with three co-champions.



“It’s the first time in the history of the program that we’ve ever done won the Big 12,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “We try every year to accomplish things that have never been done here before and we did that. We have a lot of baseball still left to play, but we can’t let one weekend change how we feel about the season we had.”



For the third straight game, the Mountaineers fell behind early as Texas scored four runs in the first before adding runs in the second and third to take a 6-0 lead.



Junior Braden Barry got WVU on the board with a solo home run in the fourth, his eighth of the season.



Redshirt-freshman David Hagaman kept WVU within striking distance as he threw 3.0 scoreless innings in middle relief.



In the seventh, freshman Sam White hit a two-run home run deep to right field to cut into the Longhorn lead a little bit more.



Texas tacked on an insurance run in the eighth to push its lead back to four. In the ninth, the Mountaineers put a couple runners on before a double play ended the game.



The Mountaineers will begin the Phillips 66 Big 12 Championship on Wednesday. They will be the No. 3 seed and will take on Texas Tech in the opening round at 8:30 p.m. ET from Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.



For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

 

[The Bell Tolls for Thee]

“It’s the first time in the history of the program that we’ve ever done won the Big 12,” said head coach Randy Mazey. “We try every year to accomplish things that have never been done here before and we did that. We have a lot of baseball still left to play, but we can’t let one weekend change how we feel about the season we had."

I'm sorry, but if you are in a 3 way tie for best overall record yet get bumped down to 3rd on the seeding chart for having the worst record against the other "co-champions", then you did not win the Big 12. Any bureaucratic nonsense that says you technically won is still just nonsense as everyone knows you did not truly win the conference. Sure in a situation like the old BE football days when you could have 3 teams all with same record and all 1-1 vs each other come down to the "highest ranked" team getting the BCS bid, you could honestly claim co champion. But in this case being an abysmal 2-4 vs the other co-champions knocking you into the lowest spot clearly shows you are not equal to your "co-champions." WVU did NOT win the Big 12 this year, we finished 3rd.

 

[WVUALLEN]

I'm sorry, but if you are in a 3 way tie for best overall record yet get bumped down to 3rd on the seeding chart for having the worst record against the other "co-champions", then you did not win the Big 12. Any bureaucratic nonsense that says you technically won is still just nonsense as everyone knows you did not truly win the conference. Sure in a situation like the old BE football days when you could have 3 teams all with same record and all 1-1 vs each other come down to the "highest ranked" team getting the BCS bid, you could honestly claim co champion. But in this case being an abysmal 2-4 vs the other co-champions knocking you into the lowest spot clearly shows you are not equal to your "co-champions." WVU did NOT win the Big 12 this year, we finished 3rd.

That woul be false. Tie breaker had nothing to do with regular season. It's used for seeding tournament only. So if WVU wins conference tournament championship does that mean they are just 3rd place or does it make OSU 3rd?

OSU was 2-1 against Texas. Does that make them #1 according to your analysis?

I'm as frustrated as anyone over the embarrasment of last 3 games. But Big 12 said co champions. First time ever with 3 co-champions.

 

[The Bell Tolls for Thee]

That woul be false. Tie breaker had nothing to do with regular season. It's used for seeding tournament only. So if WVU wins conference tournament championship does that mean they are just 3rd place or does it make OSU 3rd?

OSU was 2-1 against Texas. Does that make them #1 according to your analysis?

I'm as frustrated as anyone over the embarrasment of last 3 games. But Big 12 said co champions. First time ever with 3 co-champions.

I'm saying when wins and losses on the field clearly demarcates which teams did better, sharing the title is an arbitrary participation trophy. If 2 teams have the same conference record at the end of the year and one team swept the other in the regular season or won the series 2-1, would they be co-champions? Big 12 may say so, but it would again be an arbitrary distinction.

I'd say the same had WVU won one at Texas and OSU swept OU that it's bullshit for OSU to be "co-champion" in that case since WVU won 2 of 3 vs OSU in the regular season.

Also the fact that had that latter scenario taken place with just WVU and OSU as sharing the title while WVU holding the tie breaker feels much better than the current scenario shows the arbitrary distinction of this co-champion title. Technically the title doesn't distinguish between the 2 outcomes despite one being clearly better.

 

[WVUALLEN]

I'm saying when wins and losses on the field clearly demarcates which teams did better, sharing the title is an arbitrary participation trophy. If 2 teams have the same conference record at the end of the year and one team swept the other in the regular season or won the series 2-1, would they be co-champions? Big 12 may say so, but it would again be an arbitrary distinction.

I'd say the same had WVU won one at Texas and OSU swept OU that it's bullshit for OSU to be "co-champion" in that case since WVU won 2 of 3 vs OSU in the regular season.

Also the fact that had that latter scenario taken place with just WVU and OSU as sharing the title while WVU holding the tie breaker feels much better than the current scenario shows the arbitrary distinction of this co-champion title. Technically the title doesn't distinguish between the 2 outcomes despite one being clearly better.

Your belief and thought is just that yours. Has no bearing on Big 12 naming 3 teams sharing regular season.

Should tiebreaker declare regular season outright holder of conference title? Probably so. But Big 12 doesn't see it that way.

 

[The Bell Tolls for Thee]

Your belief and thought is just that yours. Has no bearing on Big 12 naming 3 teams sharing regular season.

Should tiebreaker declare regular season outright holder of conference title? Probably so. But Big 12 doesn't see it that way.

I am not arguing what the Big 12 is declaring. I'm arguing that it is equivalent of claiming moral victory and a participation trophy to be proud of this shared championship outcome as much as being outright champions or "sharing" but having the head to head better record to be the 1 seed. WVU is Big 12 champion in name only regardless of who gives it that name since WVU had the worst on field performance against it's "co-champions."

 

[WVUALLEN]

I am not arguing what the Big 12 is declaring. I'm arguing that it is equivalent of claiming moral victory and a participation trophy to be proud of this shared championship outcome as much as being outright champions or "sharing" but having the head to head better record to be the 1 seed. WVU is Big 12 champion in name only regardless of who gives it that name since WVU had the worst on field performance against it's "co-champions."

Didn't like the outcome but we should not take away what they did during the season. I'm as mad as anyone they couldn't win 1 game to claim it outright. But I will not agree they don't deserve a share.

How many complained we shared multiple Big East titles? Yet got to go BCS because we were ranked higher than the rest. How many did we share and missed BCS because we were lower ranked team. They shared 4 times and won 2 outright. Basketball they never won a Big East regular season title but won tournament championship. In baseball they have been to 4 championship tournament games in Big 12.

 

[The Bell Tolls for Thee]

Didn't like the outcome but we should not take away what they did during the season. I'm as mad as anyone they couldn't win 1 game to claim it outright. But I will not agree they don't deserve a share.

How many complained we shared multiple Big East titles? Yet got to go BCS because we were ranked higher than the rest. How many did we share and missed BCS because we were lower ranked team. They shared 4 times and won 2 outright. Basketball they never won a Big East regular season title but won tournament championship. In baseball they have been to 4 championship tournament games in Big 12.

To your Big East point, I accept that WVU was co-champions when the data showed it. I also accepted that some arbitrary outside factor had to be used to determine the BCS representative in such a case. In 2011 WVU shared the BE title with Cincinnati and Louisville. They were objectively co-champions because they were all 5-2 in conference and all had 1-1 records against their fellow co-champions. Had one team been 2-0 against the other 5-2 teams, then I'd say that team is objectively the champion no matter what the Big East declares.

 

[MountaineerWV]

I am not arguing what the Big 12 is declaring. I'm arguing that it is equivalent of claiming moral victory and a participation trophy to be proud of this shared championship outcome as much as being outright champions or "sharing" but having the head to head better record to be the 1 seed. WVU is Big 12 champion in name only regardless of who gives it that name since WVU had the worst on field performance against it's "co-champions."

Then who is the champs? Under your definition the Big 12 has ZERO regular season champion.

1. Texas lost series to Ok State. Can’t be them.

2. OK State lost series to WVU. Can’t be them.

3. WVU was swept by Texas. Can’t be them.

Right?

 

[The Bell Tolls for Thee]

Then who is the champs? Under your definition the Big 12 has ZERO regular season champion.

1. Texas lost series to Ok State. Can’t be them.

2. OK State lost series to WVU. Can’t be them.

3. WVU was swept by Texas. Can’t be them.

Right?

Texas 4-2 vs WVU and OSU combined.

OSU is 3-3 vs Texas and WVU combined

WVU Is 2-4 vs OSU and Texas combined

WVU has a losing overall record here and was the only one to be swept by another co-champ. Pretty clear there why Texas is 1, OSU is 2, and WVU is 3. There is a much better argument that OSU and Texas are co-champs than that WVU is on equal footing. WVU is a 3rd seed for a good reason and it's because their record in conference as above is 3rd best by the wins and losses on the field. Sure WVU shouldn't have dropped a series to lowly Kansas, but Texas and OSU had similar missteps in their season. But when it came to who actually won games against the top dogs in the conference, WVU proved to be the lesser. I'm not saying WVU is bad, I'm just saying they are not equivalent champs because they preformed the worst against the other top teams.

 

[MountaineerWV]

Texas 4-2 vs WVU and OSU combined.

OSU is 3-3 vs Texas and WVU combined

WVU Is 2-4 vs OSU and Texas combined

WVU has a losing overall record here and was the only one to be swept by another co-champ. Pretty clear there why Texas is 1, OSU is 2, and WVU is 3. There is a much better argument that OSU and Texas are co-champs than that WVU is on equal footing. WVU is a 3rd seed for a good reason and it's because their record in conference as above is 3rd best by the wins and losses on the field. Sure WVU shouldn't have dropped a series to lowly Kansas, but Texas and OSU had similar missteps in their season. But when it came to who actually won games against the top dogs in the conference, WVU proved to be the lesser. I'm not saying WVU is bad, I'm just saying they are not equivalent champs because they preformed the worst against the other top teams.

No, can't be Texas or OK State using your own logic because neither team defeat all of the others in their series. WVU wasn't "the worst" against other teams. Below are teams that finished at or above .500 in the conference.

TCU finished 4th in the conference: WVU 3-0, Texas 2-1, OK State 1-2
K-State tied for 4th in the conference: WVU 2-1, Texas 2-1, OK State 2-1
Texas Tech was 6th in the conference: WVU 3-0, Texas 3-0, OK State 1-2

 

[The Bell Tolls for Thee]

No, can't be Texas or OK State using your own logic because neither team defeat all of the others in their series. WVU wasn't "the worst" against other teams. Below are teams that finished at or above .500 in the conference.

TCU finished 4th in the conference: WVU 3-0, Texas 2-1, OK State 1-2
K-State tied for 4th in the conference: WVU 2-1, Texas 2-1, OK State 2-1
Texas Tech was 6th in the conference: WVU 3-0, Texas 3-0, OK State 1-2

You are projecting. I understand baseball is played in series. But a series does not equate to a single game like you are trying to conflate. My logic isn't based upon series, that is your flawed logic trying to make the sting less by trying to say it is really a circular firing squad. The beauty of a series is you can break it down by game and don't try to trot out some weak attempt to say it is like trying to break down a football game by quarters.

Texas: OSU: WVU:
@OSU 5-3 W Texas 3-5 L @OSU 6-3 W
@OSU 1-4 L Texas 4-1 W @OSU 9-5 W
@OSU 3-4 L Texas 4-3 W @OSU 6-11 L
WVU 12-2 W WVU 3-6 L @Texas 2-12 L
WVU 10-4 W WVU 5-9 L @Texas 4-10 L
WVU 7-3 W WVU 11-6 W @Texas 3-7 L

Texas won 4 of 6 games. Texas was never not competitive in any of the 6. Texas won in a blow out by the 3rd inning in 3 of their games. Texas won one road game

OSU won 3 of 6 games. OSU was competitive in all but 1 game. OSU won by blow out only once. OSU didn't have to play on the road vs the others

WVU won 2 of 6 games. WVU was not competitive in 4 games. WVU won by blow out once. WVU did win 2 road games.

Any way you slice it. WVU has the weakest argument to be champion based upon the results above. The only mitigating factor is WVU was on the road for all those games. So again, WVU is "equal" champions with OSU and Texas by Big 12 decree only.

That is my case. I am happy to entertain actual arguments against it, but that does not include the Big 12 official stance nor the idea that only who wins or loses the series matters.

 

[WVUALLEN]

It's time to forget the first season. It's now time for the 2nd season.