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Mountaineer Morning Links: Monday (5/19/14) Edition

Baseball moves on to Big 12 tournament on a 7 game skid, new wrestling coach to be named today, football notes, WVU Pros updates, Big 12 roundup & more.

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Welcome, By-Godders, to the Shotgun/Throwdown, WVU's nationally recognized best place for sports links, information, sophomoric humor and daily distractions. We're being brought to you today by Boddingtons Strong Ale.


What You May Have Missed:

Gold and Blue Now: Monday, May 19 - WV MetroNews
Greg Hunter looks at WVU’s chances of playing postseason baseball in the NCAA Tournament. We also hear from the newest member of the WVU football program in defensive end Shaquille Riddick who is originally from Akron, OH.

WVU hires wrestling coach - Dominion Post
Sammie Henson has been hired as WVU’s head wrestling coach, sources with knowledge of the situation told TheDPost.com

Henson to replace Turnbull as WVU wrestling coach - Charleston Gazette
West Virginia will name a former world champion as its new wrestling coach today.

Dave Hickman: Playing the APR game - Charleston Gazette
The NCAA last week published the results of its annual exercise in academic oversight. It’s called the Academic Progress Rate and it’s the organization’s effort to promote the notion that student-athletes should emphasize the student part as much as the athlete.

Bowers Added to Men’s Soccer Staff - WVU Athletics
West Virginia University men’s soccer coach Marlon LeBlanc announced the hiring of Scott Bowers as an assistant coach on the Mountaineer staff.

Track Posts Eight Top-5 Finishes at Big 12s - WVU Athletics
The WVU track and field team completed the final day of the2014 Big 12 Outdoor Championships

A Statement From West Virginia University - WVU Athletics
A recent column by Mickey Furfari, published by some newspapers in West Virginia, made several allegations regarding West Virginia University’s response to a request for information he made under the West Virginia Freedom of Information Act. The column contained several errors and misstatements of fact, as well as omissions.

News of Note:

Baseball

WVU Swept at Texas Tech - WVU Athletics
The West Virginia University baseball team fell 4-0 to Texas Tech on Saturday afternoon at Rip Griffin Park in the 2014 regular-season finale.

Struggling West Virginia exits Lubbock with 7th straight loss - WV MetroNews
Mountaineers continue to search for timely hits as Texas Tech wins 4-0 to finish sweep.

Texas Tech completes series sweep over WVU - Register-Herald
West Virginia University’s hopes of an NCAA baseball tournament appearance are growing slimmer by the day.

Mountaineers’ have slim NCAA hopes as Big 12 tourney opens - Charleston Daily Mail
Truth be told, not a lot has gone West Virginia’s way at the end of this college baseball season. The Mountaineers played their final seven games on the schedule on the road and lost each one.

HERTZEL COLUMN: Reeling WVU’s NCAA hopes fading away - Times West Virginian
West Virginia University baseball coach Randy Mazey has proven himself to be king of the sound bite in his two seasons of charming the state, if not the nation, with his Mountaineer team, but he outdid himself this weekend as his season was slipping away.

Mental Approach - BGN
WVU head baseball coach Randy Mazey is concentrating on the mental approach in rallying his team from a season ending losing skid, but he's also making sure that his team is physically prepared for the Day One meeting with Kansas in the Big 12 Baseball Championship.

Mazey: "It's Time to Win a Lot" - EerSports
Two weeks ago, West Virginia was 27-17, had won nine of their last ten and was a virtual lock for their first postseason appearance since 1996. Since then, the Mountaineers have dropped seven straight and questions have risen about their postseason candidacy.

HERTZEL COLUMN: WVU heads to Oklahoma one year after the tornado - Times West Virginian
A year ago at this time, West Virginia’s baseball team traveled into Oklahoma for the Big 12 Tournament and found a disaster.

Football

Riddick transforms body, goals as he preps for WVU transfer - WV MetroNews
Gardner-Webb All-American on jumping to the Big 12

DE Riddick will solidify WVU defense - Register-Herald
West Virginia University’s announcement Friday that it has signed FCS All-American defensive end Shaquille Riddick to use his final year of eligibility playing for the Mountaineers could be big news for new defensive coordinator Tony Gibson’s first unit.

Holgorsen optimistic about Mountaineers’ future - Martinsburg Journal
The West Virginia University football program had a down year last season, going 4-8 and not qualifying for a bowl game for the first time since 1999 with a young team still adjusting to the Big 12 Conference.

Pro News:

Mountaineers on NFL rookie mini-camp rosters - WVU Pros
Dreams will start and could come true this weekend with 26 of the 32 NFL teams opening rookie minicamps

Coal Burning Stove: CFL isn't a bad fallback plan - WVU Pros
The Canadian Football League has become a viable option for many Mountaineers. Currently eight West Virginia players are on rosters in the CFL.

Around the League (and Beyond):

Should NCAA revise league title game requirements? Look at rule's origin - Andy Staples - SI.com
The page describing which FBS and FCS conferences can stage an exempt championship game does not offer any indication of when or why the NCAA made a rule that requires a league to have at least 12 football teams -- split into two divisions -- in order to play such a game.

2014 Fox Sports Southwest Baylor Football Preview - Our Daily Bears

Which Iowa State QB would start if the season began today? - Des Moines Register

Five big winners from Spring football - Lawrence Journal World

Daniel Sams says desire to play more, be closer to home prompted decision to leave K-State - Wichita Eagle

Coach Bob Stoops happy with amended NCAA rules regarding summer workouts - Oklahoman (autoplay)

APR penalty will leave coaches less time for inexperienced squad - Oklahoman (autoplay)

Do the Horns really have the fourth-best DL in the Big 12? - Burnt Orange Nation

How Close is TCU Football to Facing APR Penalties? - Frogs O' War

Red Raiders finish off sweep of WVU, strengthen NCAA postseason resume - Lubbock Avalanche Journal

What's On Tap:

Big 12 Baseball Championship Matchups - WVU Athletics
The games are set for day one of the Big 12 Tournament.

2014 Phillips 66 Big 12 Baseball Championship Preview: West Virginia vs. Kansas - WVU Pros
No. 6 seed West Virginia will face No. 3 seed Kansas at 10 a.m. Wednesday at Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City. West Virginia was swept during its regular season series at Kansas over the May 9th weekend, 5-3 on Friday, 5-2 on Saturday and 9-8 on Sunday.

2014 Chick-fil-A Kickoff Weekend a "Perfect Storm" - WVillustrated
One of the most popular WVU Alumni Chapters, The Peach State Chapter, has organized numerous events for fans traveling to see the Mountaineers play.

Video of Interest:

Dana Holgorsen lets us know what he saw as positives in spring practice and gives an update on the quarterback situation.

Video of (Dis)Interest:


Miss Throwdown:

Today's Miss Throwdown is a British Glamour (read: tabloid) model. CLICK HERE for today's gallery of Lucy Collett.