Saturday witnessed history being made at Kendrick Family Ballpark. West Virginia University reached the College World Series for the first time in its 135 years of history, beating Cal Poly by 17-1. However, winning the Morgantown Super Regional was not the only news that came out of the ballpark. A sudden strong wind battered the ballpark and sent 5 fans to the hospital.

“Thousands of fans packed Kendrick Family Ballpark in Granville on Saturday. But their hopes of watching the Mountaineers punch their ticket to Omaha were temporarily put on hold as dangerous severe storms swept through the sold-out venue,” the New York Post reported.

The game was in the eighth inning when the strong wind ravaged the ballpark. The now-viral footage shows winds reached speeds of around 40 mph. It tore up the tents and even tossed one fan to fly through the air. Another fan was seen rolling down a hill. Still, a bigger accident was averted as most of the fans took shelter at Randy’s Ridge near the Kendrick Family Ballpark.

“I was just trying to hold my weight on the pole with the cement block. Then it started sliding, and then another guy joined in. He’s trying to hold another pole, and then a big gust of wind came,” West Virginia fan Keith Hill told WAJR radio. “It just started sliding really hard, and people got caught up in the ropes and the poles.”

Chaos happened outside the stadium as well. A large tent went flying and crashed in a nearby car parking lot. “It was intense, and we went right into survival mode,” James Sanders, who was at the venue, said. “We were picking our chairs up and getting ready to leave, and then the gust came in and picked the tent up, and then everything went sideways.”

As per West Virginia University police, 5 people were sent to the hospital for further treatment. The game again resumed from the eighth inning after a few delays. And just what the sold-out venue was waiting for, the Mountaineers routed Cal Poly and ensured their College World Series berth. “While it was a great day for Mountaineer baseball, all of Mountaineer Nation’s thoughts are with those who were involved,” WVU Athletics said in a statement.

On the field, the Mountaineers led a storm from both ends of the ball.

The Mountaineers proved to be a tough nut to crack

It was a historic season for Cal Poly as well, as they made their first-ever Super Regional appearance. However, in the Super Regional, the Mountaineers proved to be a tough nut to crack. They outscored Poly by 29-3 over the two games. For the Mountaineers, they dominated from both ends on Saturday. “They were clearly the better ballclub,” Cal Poly coach Larry Lee said.

Poly started the game 1-0 after the first inning, but the second inning ended the game when the Mountaineers scored 7 runs. The Mountaineers fielded 12 batters in the lineup, except for 4, all others scored runs. Armani Guzman was clearly the showstopper on Saturday as he returned with 2 runs and 3 RBIs from his 5 at-bats, which included a homer. He scored the homer in the third inning, which was also his first HR of this season. “I’ve been trying to hit home runs for a while, and I finally got one today,” Guzman said.

The pitching staff was no less dominant than their batting counterparts. Maxx Yehl started the inning and allowed just 1 run from his 5 innings with 4 SOs. He still allowed a run, but the bullpen steamrolled the opponent. Ben McDougal, David Hagen, and Ian Korn all offered scoreless innings to secure their World Series berth.

While the violent wind battered the ballpark, West Virginia University’s storm on the field proved far more fatal for Cal Poly.