It’s been a busy transfer portal for the West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team, bringing in one of the best transfer portal classes in the country. However, some of the players that left WVU have also kept busy, finding new homes around the country. Read More: WVU Baseball Transfers Find New Homes Across the Country.
Chase Swain – La Salle
Chase Swain’s one year in Morgantown was an interesting one. The redshirt junior transfer from Manhattan was fifth on the team in average (.319), fourth in on-base percentage (.404), fifth in slugging (.452) and fourth in OPS (.856). However, come regional time, he found himself on the bench for Armani Guzman, who did not disappoint in his spot.
Swain now exits to La Salle, where he will try to continue to hit as he has done everywhere he’s played.
Ellis Garcia – Bryant
Freshman year was solid for Ellis Garcia. The New Jersey native played in 53 games as WVU’s starting third baseman, hitting .260 with a .751 OPS and 27 RBI. The two seasons after that, not as much.
Related: JJ Wetherholt Promoted to Triple A Memphis
In 42 games in 2024, Garcia hit .241 with only one homer, and was relegated to bench duty in 2025, only making 20 plate appearances, hitting .222, though he did serve as a defensive replacement at third base quite often. Garcia will hope to rake in the Northeastern Conference in his final year of eligibility and put himself on MLB draft radars.
Benjamin Hudson – Penn State
In a curious one, Benjamin Hudson is swapping Morgantown for Happy Valley after a solid freshman campaign. In 27.1 innings across 18 appearances and one start, Hudson pitched to a 3.95 ERA, and will now pitch in the Big 10 his sophomore year.
Spencer Barnett – Penn State
Hudson won’t be the only Mountaineer looking for a lease in Happy Valley. Barnett impressed in sporadic action as a freshman, hitting .278 with a .779 OPS while filling in at second base and shortstop. However, consistent action was hard to come by for the Pittsburgh native, who returns to his home state in search of a starting infield job.
Gavin Van Kempen – East Carolina
There were high hopes for the righty after he spurned the St. Louis Cardinals who took him in the 20th round of the 2022 MLB Draft, but it just never worked out for Van Kempen in Morgantown. The Albany, New York native posted a 5.13 ERA in 2023 in four starts and 12 appearances over 26.1 innings, before improving to a 3.14 ERA in 2024 in five starts out of 13 games.
Related: WVU Baseball: Fredericks Transfers to Maryland
However, on permanently joining the West Virginia rotation, Van Kempen regressed to a 6.13 ERA and 1.69 WHIP, giving up seven homers and pitching just 39.2 innings across his 14 games. He’ll get a fresh start with ECU, a stellar program which has appeared in seven super regionals this century and four in the last decade.
Michael Perazza – Florida Atlantic
The Floridian outfielder never saw the field much during his two years in Morgantown. Hitting .258 in 62 at-bats as a freshman, Perazza saw his playing time drop as a sophomore, with 46 at-bats in 18 games. He now gets to return to his home state, where he’ll spend his junior year with FAU.
Alex Marot – Charleston Southern
It was a similar story for Alex Marot his freshman year, getting only 33 at-bats in 17 games. The Rhode Island native will be headed to Charleston Southern in search of more playing time.
Joe Fredericks – Maryland
After a great freshman year, Joe Fredericks did not see the sophomore year that many had hoped for. Fredericks had a 1.13 ERA in 18 games in 2024, giving up only four hits in 16 innings. However, he only pitched until March in 2025, winding up with four appearances and two earned runs in two innings of work during his sophomore campaign. He’ll be joining Hudson and Barnett in the Big 10, where he’ll compete for the Maryland Terrapins.
