Errors are part of baseball; WVU moves on

West Virginia’s season is on the brink of a pivot point after a 5-2 loss to North Carolina at Charles Schwab Field, fueled by two seventh-inning mistakes. Coach Steve Sabins and players say dwelling on misplays can’t decide what comes next—WVU must beat Troy o

OMAHA, Neb. — A pair of West Virginia misplays in the seventh inning didn’t just change the score. They changed the feeling in the game.

In a matchup that was tied 2-all, Tyrus Hall and Brodie Kresser each had a moment they would rather replay. Kresser’s miscue kept a potential inning-ending double play from happening, and the Tar Heels cashed in. Gavin Gallaher followed with a two-run triple to break the tie. and North Carolina added three unearned runs in the inning. After that. neither team scored again. leaving West Virginia to absorb a 5-2 loss on Sunday night at Charles Schwab Field.

For West Virginia, the timing was brutal. The Mountaineers now sit at 46-16, carrying their fourth loss in 22 games since May, and they’re facing a Tuesday must-win against Troy to earn another chance at the No. 5 national seed.

Coach Steve Sabins didn’t spend his postgame breath on what went wrong. He pointed instead to what West Virginia has already shown it can do over a long stretch.

“Over the course of 62 games, that stuff happens,” Sabins said. “I think we have the best fielding percentage in our league. Tyrus is one of the best defenders in the nation. So we’ve had really good success. And that’s kind of part of it. You don’t want it at that time. But I feel very confident that any mistakes that are made are made because mistakes happen in baseball. not necessarily the moment or the situation. I feel like our guys have played really free and aggressive this entire time.”.

The Mountaineers didn’t take the lead in the game. West Virginia scored one of its two runs in the fourth inning when Matt Ineich hit into a double play. Then. in the sixth inning. West Virginia was positioned to go ahead with runners at first and second. only for Ineich to hit into his second 4-6-3 twin killing in as many at-bats.

What comes up next is the kind of test baseball often turns into: whether the team can absorb a rough inning without letting it sink into everything after it.

That matters for more than one night. Baseball’s record this season includes a wrinkle that makes the loss feel sharper than the final score suggests. Among West Virginia’s single-season program record 46 victories. only two have come scoring two or fewer runs and four have come with three or fewer. On both occasions when West Virginia won while scoring two runs, it prevented the opposition—Liberty and TCU—from scoring.

And still, the game keeps moving.

Kresser, who has been central to West Virginia’s lineup across recent seasons and was directly tied to the moment that shifted the seventh inning, took the loss the way players in tight spots often do: straight down the middle.

“It is what it is. Have to flush it,” Kresser said. “Can’t let the moment get too big.”

That approach isn’t just talk. Kresser helped decide earlier high-pressure moments. starting with his single to start the bottom of the 10th inning in West Virginia’s 6-5 victory over Kentucky to win the Morgantown Regional. He’s been a mainstay in the Mountaineer lineup each of the last three seasons—two of which ended in Super Regional appearances—and this year’s run has now brought the team to Omaha.

Tyrus Hall’s day ended with his own missed opportunity. but he also has evidence of how West Virginia expects its leaders to respond. Hall broke a 5-all tie last Friday against Troy with a two-run single in the eighth. and he has made numerous high-level defensive plays throughout the NCAA Tournament. including a few in the MCWS.

Sabins has described Hall as the best defensive third baseman he’s been around, and numerous teammates have offered similar praise.

“I just missed it. It happens,” Hall said.

The bigger point, though, sits in what players keep returning to: staying present. West Virginia’s 2026 season has leaned on that discipline—shaking off losses without turning them into weight.

The Mountaineers didn’t get too low after a 23-1 midweek loss to rival Pitt. and they didn’t get too low after an 11-9 postseason loss to Kentucky. They didn’t get too high either after fending off elimination twice in one day. including an 11-9 win over the Wildcats featuring five ninth-inning runs.

Now, as WVU seeks a second win over the Trojans to prolong its stay on college baseball’s premier stage, that same mindset becomes more than a slogan.

Reese Bassinger, a Mountaineer relief pitcher, put the blame where baseball usually does—on the unpredictability that comes with a game played in motion.

“We’re one of the best defensive teams in the country and sometimes things happen,” Bassinger said. “You’re playing on a really good surface. Sometimes the ball takes a really weird bounce. I don’t really know what happened there, but it happens. We move forward.

“Kresser and Tyrus are some of the best defenders we have and I know without a doubt I would throw that same pitch over and over and I guarantee Kresser fields it for a double play every other time. That guy has been the rock. He’s been a captain for us. He’s a guy that everyone loves. Nobody cares about that. We move on, keep pitching, keep hitting and just go on the next game.”.

In baseball, mistakes don’t erase talent. They just demand accountability and speed. West Virginia’s challenge on Tuesday is whether it can turn this one bitter inning into a clear next step—without carrying it into the rest of its season.

West Virginia Troy North Carolina Charles Schwab Field Men’s College World Series Steve Sabins Tyrus Hall Brodie Kresser Gavin Gallaher Reese Bassinger