WVU third baseman Tyrus Hall makes a running throw to first base on Saturday against TCU. (Photo by WVU Athletic Communications)

GRANVILLE — In terms of how to end a regular season, West Virginia picked a wild one Saturday.

More to the point, the ninth-ranked Mountaineers took advantage of two wild pitches in the eighth inning to secure a series win against TCU with a 6-4 victory inside Kendrick Family Ballpark.

Along the way, WVU (37-13, 21-9 Big 12) set a program record for most Big 12 wins in a single season and will enter next week’s Big 12 tournament as the No. 2 seed and winners of nine of its last 10 games.

“It was a great team win and a fun way to end the regular season,” said WVU’s Steve Sabins, who is now 40-18 in Big 12 play in his two seasons as the Mountaineers’ head coach. “We set a program for conference wins with 21 and to do it in the pouring rain was really exciting.

“To find a way to win in gritty, unorthodox fashion is what this place is all about and what we’ve been doing for a long time.”

In a nutshell, Matt Ineich and Gavin Kelly went back-to-back with a double and a triple and Paul Schonefeld’s bloop single cut TCU’s lead to 3-2 in the third inning.

WVU third baseman Tyrus Hall hit a solo home run to tie the game in the fourth.

The Mountaineers trailed 4-3 in the eighth and rain was now falling. WVU first baseman Brodie Kresser led off with a walk and Brock Wills followed with a single. Hall bunted both runners over on a sacrifice.

TCU reliever Tanner Sagouspe then got himself in more trouble with two wild pitches. The first one sailed high and out of teammate Nolan Traeger’s reach and buzzed past the head of the home plate umpire. Kresser scored to tie the game.

“It was so wild that I got a little nervous,” Kresser said. “It didn’t touch the catcher’s mitt, so you got the deflection off the padding. Seeing it go up, I just had to make sure I got a good jump and beat the catcher and pitcher to home plate.”

Wills was now on third representing the go-ahead run and Ineich walked to put runners at the corners.

Sagouspe uncorked another high one and Wills broke for the plate. On the other side stood WVU reliever Reese Bassinger, who earned his third win of the season in the comeback victory. We would tell you Bassinger watched the two plays, but he didn’t.

“I never watch,” he admitted. “I always just listen for the crowd noise to let me know when something happens.”

As a fellow pitcher, though, throwing in the rain, trying to find a decent grip on the baseball and fighting to keep runners from scoring, Bassinger knows exactly how Sagouspe felt.

“It’s kind of hard to bounce back from that,” Bassinger said. “Once you throw the first one, all you tell yourself is don’t throw the second one.”

It happened and now Wills was breaking for home plate.

“He didn’t exactly get a great jump,” Sabins said of the play.

The baseball again smacked hard off the backstop and bounced back directly to Traeger. He corralled it and dashed back to the plate. Both players dived. Wills beat the tag by an inch. The play was confirmed on replay.

“With Wills, I was sweating it pretty heavy,” Sabins said. “It was a bang-bang play. I didn’t know.”

Sean Smith later added an RBI single to score Ineich for the final score. Bassinger, who went 3 2/3 innings in relief, gave up a walk in the top of the ninth, but otherwise was perfect, as WVU earned its eighth Big 12 series victory of the season.

“What Bassinger did was special,” Sabins said. “He threw 3.2 innings, two hits and zero runs. To do it in a downpour is unique, because mentally you have to be so strong.”

Ineich finished with three hits and Schoenfeld added two base hits and a beautiful leaping grab at the wall in center field to rob Traeger of a home run in the fifth inning.

All of it leads to the Big 12 tournament, in Surprise, Ariz. The Mountaineers will not play until the quarterfinals at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, while the tournament begins with first-round play on Tuesday.

Kansas is the top seed in the tournament.

“There’s a difference when the season is on the line and you don’t know when is the last time you’re going to wear a jersey or chase a championship,” Kresser said. “Guys were saying these last few games felt like the postseason. We had that approach at Kansas (last week) and we played well and took care of business there.

“Even here, (TCU) wasn’t stepping away from us. Each game these past two weeks has felt like postseason ball and I think it’s going to keep us ready. We get that double bye for the Big 12 tournament and it’s three games to win it.”