West Virginia baseball had high expectations coming into the 2026 season. The Mountaineers had a strong 2025, finishing with the best record in the Big 12 and a super regional appearance. On Friday, WVU started its pursuit to surpass the super regional benchmark with a three-game series with Georgia Southern, and it wasn’t perfect, but the season is off to a great start.

WVU swept the Eagles with a lot of offensive fireworks and two close games. Aside from Game 1, which was close for a little while but ended in a 15-3 win, the Mountaineers had to work for the other two wins.

Even after 250 days of a break since the 2025 season ended, the bats really showed up. There was no ring rust. The Mountaineers scored 31 runs over the three games, and most of them came in just a couple of innings.

WVU scored six runs to take the lead and coast to victory in the sixth inning in Game 1, then scored seven in the first to hold on and take Game 2, 11-10. Game 3 was a bit more low-scoring, but WVU managed to push ahead in the final innings, winning 5-2.

Returner Gavin Kelly, who was the freshman star last year, picked up right where he left off and had a strong showing in all three games. Kelly had five hits and four RBIs in the first three games. Kelly also scored the go-ahead run in the second game on a wild pitch.

Armani Guzman had a big first game with three RBIs and two doubles. He also had a hit in Game 2. Ben Lumsden also had a couple of big hits in the series.

JUCO transfer Tyrus Hall had a hot start in Game 1, but cooled off as the series went on. Ohio State transfer Matthew Graveline, who caught two games, had one of the better transfer performances with seven RBIs and five hits and the Mountaineers’ first home run of the season.

The bats really needed to pick up the slack because WVU’s pitching was still finding the strike zone, especially the highly anticipated Division II transfers. Youngster Chansen Cole started Game 1 and pitched three innings, had two earned runs, four hits and three strikeouts.

Other Division II transfer Ian Korn came in during Game 2, with the Mountaineers having a decent lead. Korn pitched four innings and allowed five runs, putting Georgia Southern back in the game after a seven-run first inning.

But the third Division II transfer, Dawson Montesa, looked sharp early. He started in Game 3 and pitched six innings, striking out seven and only allowing two runs. He went the longest out of all three starters.

The rest of WVU’s pitching staff relied on returners to close out games. After Cole and Bryson Thacker allowed three runs in the first game, veteran Reese Bassinger came in for three innings, shutting down the Eagles. He didn’t allow a run and struck out five.

After WVU blew the lead in the first game, WVU’s top pitcher coming into the season, Chase Meyer, came in to settle the ship in Game 2. He broke a finger on his pitching hand in November, and Steve Sabins said he was three to four weeks behind schedule, meaning he was on a pitch count early in the season, and was most likely going to come out of the bullpen, like he did Saturday. Meyer only threw 32 pitches, but he struck out three and was awarded the win.

The pitching, especially some of the starting pitchers, still needs to get up to speed. WVU allowed 15 runs over the weekend. But the depth was there. WVU used 13 pitchers in the first series in the middle of February. Sabins talked about how he’d use the first couple of games to do some experimenting, and he was definitely trying to see what fit. The more reliable and experienced pitchers showed up. Montesa was also a big bright spot.

It wasn’t a perfect series, but after three games in two days, because of the doubleheader, WVU still hasn’t lost.

The Mountaineers take their undefeated record into their next three-game series on Feb. 20 against Liberty. The Flames are 1-1 and have one more game in a series against the Citadel.