photo by: Benjamin Powell

West Virginia’s Armani Guzman (5) tosses the ball from first base against Ohio on Wednesday afternoon.

MORGANTOWN — If you were in attendance for West Virginia baseball’s home opener against Ohio, or you were watching on TV, or if you just looked at the lineup card, you might’ve noticed something odd. The Mountaineers’ long-time outfielder, Armani Guzman, was taking ground balls at first base.

Throughout the game, Guzman looked over to the infielder coach and asked how to stand at first. Head coach Steve Sabins cut the coach off and said:

“Dude, I put you over there to catch the ball,” Sabins said. “Don’t ask questions.”

Guzman had never played first base or even taken a ground ball before Wednesday’s matchup against Ohio. Guzman had played some infield and taken reps at second before the season started, but not at first.

It might seem crazy to have your outfielder play first, but this type of experimenting is what Sabins and most coaches around college baseball do in the first weeks of the season, and against an opponent like Ohio, who only won a game. Guzman playing first wasn’t the only lineup change made, either.

But it was the most interesting one, especially knowing Guzman didn’t have any practice and was using Ben Lumsden’s glove.

First base is going to be a rotational position all season, depending on who Sabins wants in the lineup. Brodie Kresser, who played shortstop last year, has played a couple of games at first, and he hasn’t played there before this season.

Against Ohio, Sabins wanted to start Gavin Kelly at catcher, which moved Kresser to second, leaving first base open. He also wanted to put Brock Wills, who had a homer in the game, Matthew Graveline, who led the team in homers, and Paul Schoenfeld in the lineup. So it was between Paul Schoenfeld and Guzman at first, with the other playing center.

“We’ve been working on this for a long time with first base options, and we certainly have them,” Sabins said. “But today we wanted those nine guys to get at bats.”

Sabins texted Schoenfeld and Guzman the night before and asked who the better first baseman was.

“Paul said Guzman,” Sabins said. “Guzman said to me. I said, ‘Did you guys collaborate before you sent this message back to me?’ They both sent pictures of them sitting at dinner together.”

Guzman didn’t look out of his depth at first. He picked at least one ball at first, was in the right spot for a relay at the plate, and didn’t have an error.

“Guzman did a nice job,” Sabins said. “He picked a ball. He caught every ball… We certainly, today, have the fastest first baseman in the nation.”

Guzman playing first wasn’t the only lineup change. Sabins led off with Ohio transfer shortstop Matt Ineich, who’d been batting behind Kelly, who usually led off. Ineich had been hot in his first couple of games with the Mountaineers, so against his former team, Sabins thought to make the switch. He also thought it’d be better for Kelly, who’s more of an aggressive hitter. Ineich didn’t mind leading off and said he didn’t change his mindset before the game.

“Ineich is actually more of that traditional lead-off guy,” Sabins said. “High on base, draws pitches. Other people on deck can see the pitches and how the pitcher reacts.”

The lineup changes, at least offensively, definitely worked. The Mountaineers scored 19 runs, the most this season. Ineich went 4-for-5 and now has a hit in all seven games this season. Guzman didn’t have a hit at the plate, but he had two RBIs and stole a base. He also didn’t make any errors. So far, so good.

As competition ramps up, experimentation will slow down. This weekend, WVU hits the road again for a three-game series against Kennesaw State, with Game 1 on Feb. 27 at 4 p.m. The Owls are a bit better than the teams the Mountaineers have faced, with a 4-3 record. Kennesaw State recently beat Georgia Southern, who WVU swept, and won by a run over Marshall.

Kennesaw State still isn’t an elite team, and it’s still early, so there might be more interesting lineups to come.

“You have to be able to win the game first and foremost,” Sabins said. “But if you want to be the best at the end of the season, you have to get guys experience. There’s no way around it, because you’re always one injury away from the next man up.”