WVU (30-4) builds nation’s best record with rebuilt pitching staff
William Wotring
By Eric Olson
AP Sports Writer
West Virginia has the best overall and road records in Division I baseball, and the Big 12-leading Mountaineers are doing it with a first-year coach and a No. 1 pitcher who spent his first four seasons at a Division II school in Illinois.
The Mountaineers have won 10 straight and their 30-4 record gives them a .882 winning percentage, which ranks ahead of Arkansas’ .865 (32-5). Their three-game weekend sweep at Houston made them 18-1 on the road.
“I think this school and the state take a lot of pride in grit, and they take a lot of pride in having no excuses and showing up regardless of situation and battling through adversity,” coach Steve Sabins said. “Whether it’s weather-related or public perception-related or anything else, being able to go do hard things is what the program is built on. No secret sauce.”
The offense is more productive than a year ago, when the Mountaineers went 36-24 and made a super regional. There’s a .300 hitter in every spot in the order, led by Skylar King’s team-best .377, and the Mountaineers have stolen 86 bases and have six players with at least eight.
Pitching has been a pleasant surprise. All three weekend starters and a reliever — not to mention shortstop JJ Wetherholt, the No. 7 overall pick — were taken in the Major League Baseball amateur draft.
“If you go to a super regional and have the best year in program history and lose 75 percent of your pitching, West Virginia has not traditionally been a program that has bounced back year to year and continued to build,” Sabins said. “We have the opportunity to do that.”
Friday night starter Griffin Kirn (4-0, 3.74 ERA) transferred in after four seasons at Division II Quincy. The left-hander’s fastball is only in the low 90s, but he mixes in a changeup and devastating slider, and two summers in the Cape Cod League built his confidence and eased concerns about whether he could be effective in Division I.
“I told my pitching coach my first start of the year in pregame bullpen that I can’t believe I’m here,” Kirn said. “It was a who-would-have-thought kind of thing. I’m grateful for it. I can’t ask for a better situation.”
Gavin Van Kampen (2-0, 5.63) has been the Saturday starter after working out of the bullpen last season. Kent State transfer Jack Kartsonas (3-1, 2.22), coming off summer arm surgery, made his first start Sunday and gave up two hits over seven shutout innings against Houston. Tarleton State transfer Reese Bassinger (3-0, 2.34, 5 saves) has been a revelation as the closer.
The Mountaineers host seventh-place Cincinnati this weekend, and only two series remain against teams in the upper half of the Big 12.
The polls got a shakeup Monday, but there is agreement on Texas as the No. 1 team.
The Longhorns (29-5) won two of three at Kentucky — they lost 5-4 in 15 innings Saturday — and have not dropped a weekend series since April 4-6, 2024.
D1Baseball.com ranks Arkansas No. 2 and Clemson No. 3. The Razorbacks (32-5) fell from the top spot after losing two of three at Georgia for their first series loss of the season. The Tigers (33-6) won two of three against Stanford at home.
Baseball America has Tennessee and Georgia second and third, respectively.