The Mountaineers’ baseball team went to the NCAA Super Regional for the second consecutive season. It was Steve Sabins’ first season as head coach, and he will be in Morgantown for several years. He recently secured a contract extension after five of his players were selected in the 2025 MLB Draft and two others signed as undrafted free agents. The team will look drastically different next season, but Sabins has been busy recruiting. Read more: WVU Baseball Post-Draft Outlook and Sabins’ Extension.
WVU Baseball Post-Draft Outlook and Sabins’ Extension
WVU had seven total players drafted or signed as free agents. Four of those seven had eligibility remaining and could have returned if they went unsigned or undrafted. WVSportsNation provided excellent draft coverage, which is available at this link or this one. There is also excellent content surrounding the two undrafted free agents, which are here.
Related: Wren Baker Signs Extension As Athletic Director Through 2032
The next step for Sabins and his staff is recruiting the next group of players looking to make an impact on the program. They have been busy this summer evaluating recruits and building a roster for the upcoming season. It should be a new-look team in 2026, but Sabins is here for the long haul.
Steve Sabins’ Contract Extension
Steve Sabins was announced as the successor to long-time head coach Randy Mazey in 2023. He led them to the NCAA Super Regional for the second consecutive year in 2025, one season after Mazey finished his career by leading them there.
WVU extended Sabins’ contract through the 2031 season, and his contract totals $3.675 million across the length of it. The extension came because of a clause in his previous deal, which guaranteed an extension and raise if WVU made the NCAA Tournament in his first or second season. He is committed long-term, and hopefully, recruits will notice that and decide to make the journey with the young head coach.
New Recruiting Class
The Mountaineers will look different this season. They have 13 additions through the transfer portal, 12 recruits from high school, and one from the junior college level. WVU is losing over half of the innings thrown last year, which means they have a lot to replace on the mound. The biggest returning arms for WVU are Reese Bassinger, Carson Estridge, and Chase Meyer, but none of them started a game last season.
Steve Sabins knows he needed to rework his pitching staff, and has been busy in the portal. He has signed several pitchers, including Andrew Middleton, Bryson Thacker, Chansen Cole, Ian Korn, Dawson Montesa, and Josh Surigao. Korn is one of the most important to sign. He started 14 games for Seton Hill last season and pitched 84.1 innings while allowing a 1.81 ERA. That was enough for him to win Division-II National Pitcher of the Year, and he is taking his talents to Morgantown.
WVU will also need to fill some key positions after several departures. They lost 75% of at-bats from 2025, so some guys will have to step up. Shortstop Brodie Kresser and infielder Gavin Kelly are expected to play key roles as returning players. Armani Guzman and Ben Lumsden are also returning and started key games during the postseason.
WVU released a list of the recruits joining the team as true freshmen out of high school. It is hard to tell who will have an immediate impact, but Sabins will evaluate the talent and make the right decisions. Catcher Matthew Graveline from Ohio State is one of the better portal additions. He earned Big Ten all-freshman honors in 2023 and has started 151 of 153 games the past three seasons. Among the other transfers are Creed Erdos (James Madison, catcher), Matt Ineich (Ohio University, infielder), Paul Schoenfield (Colorado Mesa, outfielder), Sean Smith (Georgia Southern, outfielder), Michael Smosna (McMurry, catcher), and Brock Willis (UNC-Wilmington, outfielder).
