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24 May 2010
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. - At the beginning of the 2010 season, and not long after his preseason all-Big East third baseman was lost before it ever started, West Virginia baseball Coach Greg Van Zant had a talk with his staff about what to expect.
What they'd known previously wasn't entirely optimistic. Gone from one of the best offensive teams in the country were leadoff hitter Justin Parks, Austin Markel and his 15 home runs, Vince Belnome and his school-record 81 RBI, Joe Agreste, who'd been drafted previously, and catcher Tobias Streich, who went in the second round to the Minnesota Twins.
"We lost not only five good players, but five of the better players in school history," Van Zant said.
Not that there wasn't promise with Jedd Gyorko, Grant Buckner and Dan DiBartolomeo atop the lineup. As the Mountaineers were ready to begin their season in Myrtle Beach, S.C., DiBartolomeo, who batted a WVU-record and fourth-best in the nation .439 last season, reinjured a shoulder he'd had fixed in the offseason.
"At that point, with all the new players we had, we thought if we could somehow have a winning season and get to the Big East Tournament, that would be a huge success," Van Zant said.
The Mountaineers finished their regular season Saturday with a 3-2 victory. A walk-off home run by catcher Kevin Griffin pushed WVU's record to 27-28 and 10-17 in the Big East.
Yet Griffin's heroics salvaged the season sent his team to a once unthinkable conference tournament appearance. WVU is the No. 8 seed and plays Big East champion Louisville (46-10).
