Over the past two weekends, West Virginia was chasing down a Big 12 title. That title chase, while successful, slowed down the Mountaineers’ momentum.

Thursday’s win over Cincinnati hopes to have restored that momentum as that winning feeling returned to the West Virginia dugout.

“It felt like we had pressed, and we had pushed, and we had pressed. And there was a Big 12 regular season title on the line. And no matter what you say and how you prepare, when these kids pour this much into being great, they do feel that. And so I felt over the course of the last few weeks, maybe the guys were pressing for hits or trying to have success for the program. That’s all they want, man. These guys go to work every day to do something special for our state, community, and university,” West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins said.

WVU won their first outright Big 12 title last weekend, but this weekend, they are hoping to win their first Big 12 Tournament title. That motivation does not come from Sabins who is in his first season as head coach, but it is player driven for the Mountaineers.

“I don’t think anything I say at this point is going to change how these guys play or perform. It’s their team. It’s been their team for a long time. They’ve taken ownership of this team. Guys like these [Griffin Kirn and Kyle West], these guys will dictate how far this team goes. I’m going to try to put them in positions to be successful. That’s my job at this point. But there’s no rah, rah speeches. There’s nothing that I can say or do at this point,” Sabins said.

That feeling of accountability is something West feels. He’s in his second season as a Mountaineer, but understood what this team went through each of the last two weeks.

“I think coming the last two weeks were obviously not what we wanted. We lost two series. We had time to regroup, think about what had happened the past two weeks, reflect on it for positive. When you start looking into the negative, you get so deep down a rabbit hole, and you try and fix everything. But on the surface, we’re an elite-level baseball team. So, try and regroup, recuperate on what we do well, and take that into this weekend. And I think we showed tonight what we did all season. So I think it’s a great start, and looking forward, I think we’re in a great position,” West said.

The thing that helped West Virginia flush what happened in the regular season is the idea that once the tournament start, it’s an entirely new season.

“But I do think before we came here, we did remind the guys that there’s certainly some doubters. So we just won a Big 12 title, and we tied the most wins in program history, and there’s still a lot of doubters of what that was. And so you have a choice. You can either play with a chip on your shoulder. You can use that for fuel. Or you can ignore it. Those are the options,” Sabins said.

It seems as though West Virginia used it for fuel, as a 10-3 win over Cincinnati put the Mountaineers in the Big 12 Semifinals.

“I have my preference. [Kirn] probably has his preference. Kyle West has his preference. But everybody in that locker room knows how special this team is and what we’ve accomplished. I think the most important thing you hit on, stumbled at the end. Well, this is the beginning. And so we don’t really want to look at it like the end, because if you think it’s the end, then it’s the end. And so we talked about something new, a rebirth, getting to go start a new season basically today,” Sabins said.

The post-spring/way-too-early ESPN SP+ power rankings came out on Thursday and West Virginia checked in at No. 57.

What are the SP+ rankings exactly?

Well, it’s a formula that measures how good a team will be based on returning production, which WVU has very little of, recent recruiting, and recent history. Returning production, according to Bill Connelly, “makes up about two-thirds of the projections formula.”

Considering the Mountaineers will have well over 60 newcomers this season, it’s a little surprising to see them ahead of 15 other Power Four teams. Those schools? Oklahoma State, Houston, Arizona, UCF, Boston College, Michigan State, California, Cincinnati, Maryland, Mississippi State, Virginia, Wake Forest, Northwestern, Stanford, and Purdue.

For WVU to be as high as they are, the formula has to like what WVU did in the transfer portal, since the recent history has been pretty ugly in terms of the win-loss column.

Below is a look at where each opponent on WVU’s schedule is ranked

Robert Morris – N/A (FCS)

Ohio – 80

Pitt – 47

Utah – 31

Kansas – 50

BYU – 27

UCF – 61

TCU – 31

Houston – 59

Colorado – 52

Arizona State – 22

Texas Tech – 26

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More than 10 years after moving away from the Mountain State, an Ohio couple is strengthening their commitment to central West Virginia with a $100,000 gift to expand local outreach and experiential learning opportunities via the West Virginia University Center for Community Engagement, a unit under the WVU Division for Land-Grant Engagement.

George Lee and Rosemary H. Fisher first came to West Virginia in 1975, when they purchased a small farm in Braxton County. They maintained the farm for nearly 40 years and became deeply connected to their neighbors and the community.

“Our hearts have always been centered there, even though we’ve moved on to a different phase of our lives,” Lee said. “I think when you experience a place like West Virginia for as long as we did, it just naturally becomes a part of you.”

The Fishers’ gift to WVU establishes a namesake fund that supports the Purpose2Action program, a paid community engagement experience that places undergraduate students with nonprofit and public-sector organizations to work on mission-driven projects. Per the couple’s wishes, first preference will be given to students from Braxton County and/or student engagement work with Braxton County nonprofits.

The fund prioritizes projects and organizations focused on youth education, entrepreneurship, technology, nutrition, veterans, animals, career development and food scarcity.

“Students are curious and motivated to apply classroom learning to real-world challenges that enrich their education while gaining valuable career skills and making a meaningful impact in local communities,” WVU Center for Community Engagement Director and Assistant Dean Kristi Wood-Turner said.

The Fishers met as undergraduates at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, and spent their careers in the Philadelphia area, where Lee worked in corporate finance for the rail industry and Rosemary was a schoolteacher.

The Braxton County farm fulfilled a lifelong dream for Lee and served as a peaceful getaway for the couple until the early 2000s, when they retired and moved there full-time.

“It was like going home,” Rosemary said.

They both volunteered at Little Birch Elementary and belonged to the Braxton County Rotary Club, among other community groups.

At the urging of then-Governor Joe Manchin, Lee got involved at the state level. He held leadership roles with the West Virginia Board of Accountancy, the West Virginia Broadband Deployment Council and TechConnect WV. Lee, who served in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, was also involved in veterans’ affairs issues.

In their spare time, Lee enjoyed fishing, while Rosemary sewed and quilted. She has given away over 100 quilts to West Virginia friends and neighbors as graduation presents, condolence gifts, recognition for military service and more.

The couple previously established the Lee and Rosemary Fisher Scholarship to benefit graduates of Braxton County High School who attend WVU.

“We’ve both been blessed with being able to give things away, and I think that’s partially due to the way we were raised,” Lee said. “Our parents recognized there’s always someone else who may live next door that might be in a worse situation than you are, so don’t let you become the subject of your whole life. Recognize there are people around you that you might be able to help, and if you’re in a position to provide that help, just do it. That’s the way we’ve looked at all our gifts.”

The Fishers noted that rural communities in central West Virginia face unique challenges that aren’t easily understood by residents of Morgantown, Martinsburg and other cities in the state, so they wanted to help. They hope their generosity enriches central West Virginia communities, broadens the skills and perspective of students from the area, and inspires others to give.

“When we decided we would create this gift, we were determined that it was going to stay in the center of the state and not go anywhere else,” Lee said.

Despite the Fishers’ passion for West Virginia, health struggles prompted them to return to Oxford in 2013. They have family nearby, and Lee has continued his education at Miami University, taking over a dozen courses in the past decade.

In addition to spending time in Florida, Rosemary said the couple still returns to Braxton County regularly to visit their “adopted family on the hill.”

“The students’ willingness to serve truly changes the lives of our fellow citizens and enriches their learning here at WVU,” Associate Vice President and Dean of the Division for Land-Grant Engagement Jorge Atiles said. “We are so thankful for thoughtful donors like the Fishers who share a passion for service and for our West Virginia communities.”

The Fishers’ gift was made through the WVU Foundation, the nonprofit organization that receives and administers private donations on behalf of the University.