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Jun 5, 2026; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Scott Forbes makes a visit to the mound in the seventh inning against the USC Trojans at Boshamer Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Zachary Taft-Imagn Images | Zachary Taft-Imagn Images
This season represents a breakthrough for West Virginia baseball. The program has been on the rise the past several seasons; the Mountaineers hosted an NCAA regional for the first time in 2019, then advanced to their first Super Regional is 2024. Ironically, that Super Regional was held in Chapel Hill as WVU squared off against the Heels. Carolina would ultimately put an end to the West Virginia run as the Heels won the two games played by scores of 8-6 and 2-1. West Virginia would return to the Super Regionals in 2025 but ultimately bowed out to the overall #6 seed, LSU.
This year, a combination of good baseball and a little luck saw the Mountaineers finally advance to the College Baseball World Series for the first time in the program’s history. WVU was seeded 16th nationally after finishing with a 37-13 record in the regular season and was the host for the Morgantown Regional. While they suffered a loss in their second game against Kentucky, they battled their way back to a rematch with the Wildcats and beat them in consecutive games to advance to the Super Regionals.
Fate gave WVU a little help here; instead of getting matched up with the overall number one-seeded UCLA Bruins and having to travel to the west coast, the Mountaineers ended up hosting the Super Regional in Morgantown. UCLA suffered two of the most shocking losses in NCAA baseball tournament history, losing to fourth-seeded St. Mary’s (CA) twice to be eliminated. The third seed in the Los Angeles Regional, Cal Poly, ended up advancing to face West Virginia in the Supers. While the Mustangs deserve credit for seizing their opportunity and making it out of the bracket, there’s no doubt it helped out West Virginia. The Mountaineers would go on to demolish Cal Poly in their two games, winning by scores of 12-2 and 17-1, and earning their ticket to Omaha. West Virgina will face fellow College World Series debutant Troy in their first matchup.
While there’s no guarantee the Heels will see the Mountaineers in the College World Series, let’s take a look at what to expect out of West Virginia if the Heels end up playing them.
Pitching
Similar to the Heels, West Virginia hangs their hat on their pitching. That starts with junior LHP Maxx Yehl, who’s had an excellent season. Yehl sports a 2.10 ERA, fifth-best in the entire country (and one spot ahead of UNC’s Caden Glauber). He currently has a 9-2 record and has been dominant in his last two starts in the College World Series. Yehl started the winner-take-all game against Kentucky in the Regionals, throwing for five innings and only allowing three hits and one run. He followed that up with another five-inning outing against Cal Poly in which he again allowed only one run while striking out four. It’s likely he could have pitched longer, but by then the Mountaineers were up 14-1. He’s allowed three earned runs or more only three times this season. WVU is not afraid to ride him, as he has six outings where he’s thrown 100+ pitches — including a 124-pitch complete game against Kansas.
Chansen Cole is the Mountaineers’ number two starter, and he’s not much of a step down from Yehl. Cole has a 10-1 record and a 2.85 ERA. He’s also been excellent in the tournament, allowing only one run against Binghamton in six innings and throwing seven innings of two-run ball against Cal Poly. Dawson Montesa usually gets the call as West Virginia’s third starter, although he’s not had near the success as the other two. Montesa sports a 5.78 ERA and a 5-5 record.
The West Virginia bullpen is deep and solid. WVU has four relivers that have thrown for at least 30 innings this year while having an ERA under 3.50. Sophomore David Hagen has gotten some spot starts and is one of their best bullpen options. He’s pitched seven innings so far in the tournament and been tagged for only one earned run. Ian Korn has also been an integral part of the Mountaineers bullpen, although it’s worth noting he was roughed up twice against Kentucky in the regionals; he allowed eight runs (six earned) in his two appearances against the Wildcats. Finally, expect to see Reese Bassinger eat some innings for West Virginia. Bassinger has appeared in three games in the NCAA tournament, has a 3.23 ERA over the course of the season, and also leads WVU in total pitching appearances.
If there’s a silver lining for UNC, it’s that either Cole or Yehl will probably draw the start against Troy, meaning it’s unlikely the Heels will see much of one of the WVU aces. Still, this is a solid pitching staff; they rank seventh in the country in total ERA. It is worth noting, though, that most of these excellent performances came against a schedule ranked as only the 48th hardest in the country (for reference, the Heels SOS ranks 12th).
Batting
The West Virginia offense is pretty pedestrian by comparison. The Mountaineers plate 7.7 runs per game on average, good for 40th in the country. They have really don’t have a lot of power either; WVU averages a paltry .92 home runs per game. They’re tied with Murray State and Santa Barbara for 172nd in the country in that particular stat. What offense they do generate typically comes from a variety of places; they’re among the top 25 in walks earned and once they’re on base, they’re adept at stealing them as well (1.92 swipes per game, good for 40th in the nation). They do make contact a decent amount, batting .307 as a team. It’s also worth noting that their offense has looked much better since the start of the NCAA tournament, where they’ve scored nine or more runs in six out of their seven games. I’d argue they haven’t exactly faced elite pitching thus far, but it’s worth watching to see if their offense stays hot in Omaha.
By far the Mountaineers’ best weapon on offense is catcher Gavin Kelly. The sophomore has a slash line of .384/4.84/.720 and leads West Virginia in almost every statistical category. He’s clubbed 17 homers, driven in 57 runs, and will be a threat every time he comes up to bat. After Kelly, the talent drops off a bit. Center fielder Paul Schoenfeld is a solid hitter at .342, but rarely hits for power with only four home runs. Armani Guzman is a terror on the basepaths once he gets on; his 38 stolen bases lead the team and rank him in the top 15 in the country in that category.
Overall, the Mountaineer’s pitching is good enough to potentially carry them to the finals, particularly with only have one other seeded team on their side of the bracket to get past. While they can’t overlook an experienced Troy team, they could be poised to continue their breakout season if the Heels slip.
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