Benjamin Powell GETTING THE NOD - WVU pitcher Chansen Cole will start for the Mountaineers on Friday against Cal Poly.

GRANVILLE — West Virginia baseball’s first baseman Armani Guzman hit a single to center field, bringing in the winning run for the Mountaineers, winning the first Morgantown Regional since 2019. With UCLA, the No. 1 overall seed losing its regional, WVU will host its first-ever super regional.

Cal Poly’s true freshman Gavin Spiridonoff hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning against St. Mary’s in the Los Angeles regional final. His homer helped the Mustangs win the regional and send the program to its first-ever super regional.

Now, WVU (43-15) hosts Cal Poly (39-22) for the first game and three-game series between the two schools, with the winner headed to Omaha, Nebraska, to play in the College World Series. It’ll be each team’s first trip to Omaha in history. The first game is at noon on Friday, June 5, and will be streamed on ESPN2. Game 2 is on Saturday, June 6, at noon and will also be on ESPN2. Sunday, June 7, will be Game 3 if necessary.

Both teams are riding a lot of momentum heading into the super regional. WVU won back-to-back dramatic games and have won its last three. Cal Poly went undefeated in its regional, even with No. 1 UCLA in the mix.

The Mustangs’ trip was a bit more comfortable. Cal Poly and veteran head coach Larry Lee’s squad was a No. 3 seed in the region and outscored their opponents 25-5. The Mustangs were fortunate not to have played the Bruins, but they still beat the highest No. 2 seed in the tournament, Virginia Tech, and smoked St. Mary’s.

“We just took it game by game,” third baseman Alejandro Garza said. “It was a great regional. Glad we came out there victorious.”

Most of that has to do with Cal Poly’s pitching. Like WVU, the Mustangs have a big, lengthy ace. Carson Turnquist is their top pitcher and is a 6-foot-5 right-hander. Turnquist has a 3.35 ERA, 90 strikeouts and a dominant 9-2 record. He pitched five innings against St. Mary’s in the blowout win in Game 2, and struck out seven, allowed one run and had five hits. Starters Griffin Naess and Josh Volmerding both had strong postseason showings.

“They throw strikes,” Sabins said. “They can command the ball; they put the ball where they want to.”

Cal Poly also has some talented arms in the bullpen to go along with solid starting pitching. Nick Bonn is one of the Mustangs top relievers and had a 3.49 ERA on the season. He’s up for some awards as a top closer in the country. Brady Estes is one of Cal Poly’s top left-handers in its arsenal.

The Mustangs had fireworks on the offensive end and made a lot of the games look really lopsided. Catcher Ryan Tayman leads the team in batting average (.362) and leads the team in home runs (18). His 18 homers are the most of any player in the super regional. Cal Poly has seven other hitters who are hitting over .300 on the year. Leadoff hitter and shortstop Nate Castellon, Garza and center fielder Casey Murray Jr. are all names to watch. The Mustangs’ team batting average is .304.

Unlike Kentucky, WVU doesn’t have to worry too much about Cal Poly on the base path. The Mustangs have only stolen 22 bases all season. Guzman has stolen more bases by himself than Cal Poly.

But the Mustangs bunt the ball a lot, playing small ball. As Sabins said, Cal Poly plays true “West Coast” baseball, meaning it doesn’t rely heavily on the home run.

“We are big on putting the ball in play,” Garza said. “Coach stresses a strikeout is the least you can do. We love to put the ball in play.”

WVU is similar in that sense. If the Mountaineers have runners on, Sabins will give the bunt sign to put the runners in scoring position. Guzman bunted for a base hit all by himself, according to Sabins.

With the dominant pitching and small ball, the weekend could be a bit more low-scoring. But it should still be exciting with the history the two teams have made so far in the postseason. And, there’s still more history to create.

“It’s just going out there and playing to our standards,” Lee said. “We understand it’s going to be a tough challenge.”