MORGANTOWN — About the only thing that went wrong on West Virginia’s season-opening baseball trip to Jacksonville was the cancellation of the final game of the scheduled four-game series.
Rain on Monday caused that, but it was one of the few dampers on WVU’s 3-0 start to the season.
Returning veterans produced as hoped for. Transfers showed promise, and youngsters had their moments. Backups and role players from a year ago shone, and there were more successes than shortcomings in key moments that defined two of the contests.
Of course, it’s just three games, but those count the same in the won-loss column as any others, and the fact that WVU put all three in the win column was encouraging. Seven of the 14 teams in the Big 12 absorbed losses on the opening weekend.
As is usually the case early on, both position players and pitchers received, if not tryouts, at least early evaluations on their readiness to contribute in 2025. Sixteen position players made appearances, as did 11 pitchers. In the batting order, only Logan Sauve (leadoff), Sam White (second) and Michael Perazza (cleanup) hit in the same spot in all three games.
Of course, not all of those were perfect, but the offense was a respectable .281 at the plate and 7 for 10 in stolen base attempts, while the pitching staff registered a 2.16 ERA and a 1.08 WHIP with 30 strikeouts against 11 walks.
“We played free and aggressive, which was encouraging to see,†said first-year WVU coach Steve Sabins, who had a goal of four innings per starter on the opening weekend.
“[Griffin] Kirn went [5 2/3] innings, [Gavin] Van Kempen went 4 and Robby Porco went [3 2/3], so we probably over-exceeded expectations. Each one of those guys exited with the lead, and then the bullpen was excellent. They gave up three runs over the course of three games.â€
Reese Bassinger and Carson Estridge were leaders out of the bullpen, with the former getting a pair of saves while yielding just one walk and one hit over 3 1/3 innings, while Estridge threw 4 2/3 innings in relief on Saturday, striking out four and walking none in earning the win.
“Bassinger is so confident, and when he stands on the mound, he oozes experience,†said Sabins of the Tarleton State transfer, who was 5-2 with 57 strikeouts against 17 walks in 67 2/3 innings for the Texans in 2024. “We didn’t plan for him to close the first game, but he got two outs on one pitch to end it.â€
The cancellation of the series finale nixed the plan for Sunday, which had a freshman and a senior pitcher paired up.
“We were going to start David Hagen, who is a freshman, and Tyler Hutson, who is a senior transfer,†Sabins said. “Both of them were deserving. We wanted to get the freshman’s feet wet in a familiar role, as we had built him up as a starter. We thought he had evolved into an opener role, where you go one time through the lineup and then had it off to a veteran. That’s similar to what we did with Estridge in game two, that long-relief situation.â€
Hagen hails from Moeller High School in Ohio, where he was 7-0 with a 1.56 ERA as a senior, while Hutson comes to WVU from Southern Indiana, where he averaged a strikeout per inning over three seasons.
With a midweek home game against Ohio following this weekend’s three-game set at Lipscomb, it’s likely this combination will make an appearance over the next four contests.
WVU next travels to Nashville, Tennessee, to take on the Bisons, with Friday’s first game set for 4 p.m.
