West Virginia catcher Gavin Kelly tags a runner at home plate. (Photo by David Pennock)

GRANVILLE – Perhaps Ben Lumsden is just made for the spotlight of the NCAA tournament.

West Virginia’s senior outfielder would never admit to that, in fact he kind of played the moment off Friday.

Still, it was a heck of a moment for Lumsden to try and make routine. In the opening game of the NCAA tournament, Lumsden reached base four times, hit a three-run home run and scored twice in the Mountaineers’ 10-1 victory against Binghamton in front of a sold-out crowd of 4,120 inside Kendrick Family Ballpark.

WVU (40-14), which reached 40 wins for the third time in four seasons, advanced to play Kentucky at 5 p.m. today in the winner’s bracket of the Morgantown Regional.

Binghamton (31-21) will play Wake Forest at noon today in an elimination game.

“There are a lot of at-bats during the midweek that people don’t see,” Lumsden said. “You can build off things that happen everyday when there’s no one here. So, you can almost treat a big at-bat like a Tuesday at-bat with zero people in the stands. It’s all the same.”

That is the humble side of Lumsden, a tall drink of water at 6-foot-3 who hails from South Carolina.

The in-the-huge-moment Lumsden has a story that reads more like a fairy tale. His stats, once WVU reaches the NCAA tournament, scream for him to be nicknamed Mr. May.

Consider this: Lumsden is hitting .310 over nine NCAA tournament games – he’s a career .230 hitter at WVU – and he’s collected 12 RBIs and scored seven times in those games.

His performance against the Bearcats may have only been outdone by what he did against Kentucky in the championship game of the Clemson Regional last season, in which he drove in four runs in a wild 13-12 comeback victory.

“For all the work that goes into it, you don’t accidentally hit a three-run homer in a NCAA regional game,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “You don’t accidentally get on base four times. It’s a testament to all of the high-level work he’s put into it.”

With all of that said, Lumsden’s role this season has been that as a spot starter and someone who can come off the bench to pinch hit most times. He didn’t even know he was starting against Binghamton until he first arrived at the ballpark a few hours before the game.

“I felt like it was Ben’s turn today,” Sabins said. “Ben had been doing work. His preparation in batting practice and clarity in some of our (simulation) games kind of showed us where he’s at.”

Where the Mountaineers are at is once again in the driver’s seat in an NCAA regional. WVU will have its top pitcher, Maxx Yehl, on the mound going against Kentucky needing two more wins to advance to a super regional for a third consecutive year.

Lumsden’s offense played a major role, but WVU pitcher Chasen Cole was equally as dominant on the mound. The sophomore set a season high with 10 strikeouts over six innings. He allowed just four hits and the one run allowed came on a fielder’s choice that saw Zack Kent beat the throw home on a close play that was upheld after a challenge.

“Besides Kent’s double down the line, there was not a lot of hard contact,” Binghamton head coach Tim Sinicki said. “He was moving the ball in and out and seemingly never missed down the middle of the plate. He got ahead and we chased after pitches that might have started in the bottom of the zone and ended up out of the zone.

“What I liked most about him is he seemed very comfortable with who he is. He knows what his strengths are and he pitched to those strengths.”

WVU’s 10 runs came in just two innings. Lumsden’s three-run shot to right field followed Matthew Graveline’s two-run home run three batters earlier. That gave WVU a 5-1 lead in the fourth inning.

The Mountaineers added five more runs in the seventh. Lumsden led off with a base hit, followed by a double off the wall by Tyrus Hall. Gavin Kelly drove both of them in with a double and Armani Guzman hit a three-run double with the bases loaded for the final score.

“We’re 1-0 and that’s how you always want to start these things out,” Sabins said. “Chansen Cole has continued to do what Chasen Cole does, regardless of the environment. That was a huge win for the Mountaineers. I was proud of Ben Lumsden for being in there in the biggest game of the season and performing at a high level.”