‘Slap in the Face’: Grant Hussey Frustrated with How Career at WVU Ended

West Virginia's offense hit a dry spell toward the end of the regular season, which led to head coach Steve Sabins shaking up the lineup a bit. The biggest, boldest move he made ahead of postseason play was benching first baseman Grant Hussey for Ben Lumsden.

Hussey is the program's all-time leader in home runs, and for a team that didn't hit many homers, it certainly made WVU's offense one-dimensional. Questions were asked to Sabins after the Clemson regional about what sparked the decision, and he told reporters, “There’s a multitude of factors. There were a thousand reasons that weren’t isolated to Grant.

"That’s where people get confused sometimes is that decisions are made to a player. Decisions are made only and strictly for the team. “You’re essentially taking (Hussey’s) skill set versus the opposing pitching, and then you have to make a decision on if there’s another player that we think is on our team who may be able to help us win more often. I felt like, in this circumstance, it was viewed as a one-for-one, where you take Grant out and put in Ben Lumsden, but it was more complicated than that. It was not a one-out and one-in kind of thing.”

Hussey was replaced by Ben Lumsden, who had a batting average in the low 100s, making the decision even more baffling. Why not let your senior and best power hitter figure things out at the plate? There has to be more to it than performance. However, Hussey's comments after the game last night would suggest that it's definitely not injury-related.

A fan tweeted at Grant, recognizing Hussey not getting the shot to bat in game two of the LSU regional, questioning Sabins' decision to pinch-hit Chase Swain for Lumsden. Hussey called it a "slap in the face."