BIG PERFORMANCE — WVU pitcher Griffin Kirn, who pitched a complete game, fires a pitch during the opening round of the Big 12 tournament on Thursday. - Michael Sudhalter

ARLINGTON, Texas — A former NCAA Division II pitcher lifted the No. 23-ranked WVU baseball team to its best season in 133 years of competition, with what Mountaineers first-year head coach Steve Sabins called “a heroic performance” on Thursday afternoon at Globe Life Field.

“Griffin Kirn was ridiculous — he threw 129 pitches – each of them with conviction and grit,” Sabins said after the top-seeded Mountaineers’ 10-3 win over No. 8 seed Cincinnati in the Big 12 tournament quarterfinals. “He’s a horse. He looked like he could have thrown 150 pitches today.”

Kirn (5-2) threw his first complete game of the season, allowing three runs on eight hits, while striking out nine Bearcats and walking one in his first complete game of the season.

Kirn has 95 strikeouts and will have a chance to reach the 100-strikeout mark in the NCAA tournament next weekend.

“I felt like I just got better as the game went on – I wanted the ball,” said Kirn, who spent the past four years pitching for Quincy University in his hometown of Quincy, Illinois.

The Mountaineers will face No. 4 seed Arizona (37-18) – a 4-1 winner over BYU on Thursday – in the Big 12 semifinals at 5 p.m. today. The Wildcats defeated the Mountaineers in two out of three games, March 21-23, in Morgantown. The opening game of that series was a 6-4 Arizona victory in 16 innings.

WVU improved to 41-13 on the season, setting a new program record for wins in a season. The Mountaineers previously reached the 40-win mark in 2023 and 1994, respectively.

“The record means a lot,” Sabins said. “I’ve been with the program for 10 years, and a lot of people have worked hard for a really long time. West Virginia only has 1.8 million people. We have to recruit tough kids, develop and get them better. Every day we go to work for our state, university and community.”

WVU has a chance to win a conference tournament for the first time since it won the 1996 Big East Tournament in the first season of the Greg Van Zant era.

It took an explosive fourth inning for the Mountaineers to erupt for five runs and thus, change the trajectory of the season after WVU lost six of their past seven games.

“We just hadn’t had quality at bats the past two weeks,” Sabins said.

Sabins also led the Mountaineers to their first Big 12 tournament victory at Globe Life Field after entering the game at 0-6. Sabins is a native Texan who played a year of junior college baseball in the state.

All of this happened after WVU stumbled into the conference tournament with six losses in its past seven games. WVU had only scored in double figures one other time since April 26.

WVU improved to 4-0 on the season against Cincinnati (32-23).

The Mountaineers trailed 1-0 in the first inning, but senior left fielder Kyle West belted a solo home run in the bottom of the fourth that broke up a no hitter at the Texas Rangers’ stadium. It was West’s 10th home run of the season.

“It was a weight lifted off of our shoulders,” West said. “As a team, we set the tone. We’re a relentless offense.”

Sophomore third baseman Spencer Barnett hit an RBI single after Bearcats pitcher Adam Buczowski loaded the bases. Senior first baseman Grant Hussey (2 for 3, with an RBI) connected on a liner that hit Buczowski, who left the game with an injury. A run scored on the play.

“The at-bats got grittier and gritter as the game went on,” Sabins said.

Senior shortstop Brodie Kresser’s sacrifice fly extended the lead to 4-1, and West picked up his second RBI of the game on a bases-loaded walk.

The Mountaineers added some insurance runs in the sixth and seventh innings, respectively.

Junior designated hitter Sam White scored Kresser and Hussey in the bottom of the sixth. Kresser hit a sacrifice fly, followed by junior center fielder Skylar King’s fielder’s choice for a 10-3 advantage. Kresser finished the game with three RBIs.

Freshman second baseman Gavin Kelly went 2 for 4 with three runs scored.

“He’s one of the best freshmen in the country,” Sabins said.