MORGANTOWN — Matthew Graveline hasn’t been with West Virginia baseball for long, but he already has a couple of nicknames.

“Grav, gravy, gravy train,” Graveline said. “There’s a few guys on this team that call me something else. I don’t really care what I’m called. Either grav, gravy, gravy train, it doesn’t really matter.”

Graveline was one of the many transfers head coach Steve Sabins added this offseason. He transferred from Ohio State, where he caught and played outfield, like he did this past weekend in the season opener against Georgia Southern. In three seasons with the Buckeyes, Graveline hit .277 with 19 home runs and 116 RBIs.

WVU’s 2026 team has high expectations because of the performance of last season, having the best record in the Big 12, and all the new talent, like Graveline, that it brought in. The question was how well all the new transfers would mesh together in a short amount of time to make a deep run.

The first test was passed, sweeping Georgia Southern, although it wasn’t aced. Now, the new transfers and the rest of the team will face Liberty for a three-game series starting on Feb. 20, starting at 4 p.m. on ESPN+. The Flames are 2-1 to start the season.

But when you add a bunch of transfers, all of them at least have one thing in common, and that’s being new. Graveline quickly realized he’s not the only one making his debut for the Mountaineers this season.

“We had a lot of transfers and new guys,” Graveline said. “But yeah, I’ve gelled well, like this is probably the closest team I’ve been with in my four years in college. We kind of gelled pretty fast in the fall, which I think is going to help to success on the field.”

It makes it even easier to be a household name in the clubhouse after a great first impression. Graveline couldn’t have really asked for a better one against the Eagles. He had five hits, seven RBIs and two homers in his 13 at-bats. Graveline’s homer in Game 2 was WVU’s first of the season.

Graveline wasn’t always a power hitter. In his first two seasons in college, Graveline hit four and five homers, respectively. In Year 3, Graveline hit 10, more than those two seasons combined. He’s already off to a blazing start in 2026.

“To start my college career, I was pretty light,” Graveline said. “I would say I was 180, which is pretty light because I’m like 205 now. I think just putting on strength and putting on weight, good muscle weight, I think that translates to more power in the game. feel like a strong part of my game is bat speed. I think I have pretty good bat speed. Those two combined, I think just equal to a lot of power. I think it kind of showcased throughout the end of my college career, like the latter part of my college career.”

Hitting them out of the park certainly helped get his name out there. But Graveline already had a great connection with some of the players on the team, especially the pitchers, being a catcher.

Graveline caught a lot of bullpens this offseason and learned each pitcher’s arm angle, how their curveball moves and their windups, but he’s also bonded with them on a personal level.

“Every guy is different out there,” Graveline said. “Some guys you need to be stern with and tell them, like, let’s go. But there’s also guys who need the opposite approach, maybe like, crack a joke or something, get them to loosen up.”

Graveline is already fitting in and is comfortable with his new team. It definitely showed in the first series of the season. Now, it’s just riding the momentum for the rest of the season, starting with the Flames, helping the Mountaineers achieve their goal of making a deep postseason run.

“Honestly, just helping the team to win as many ball games as possible,” Graveline said. “That’s my goal.”