No. 25 West Virginia Travels to Liberty for Three-Game Weekend Series

The No. 25 West Virginia Mountaineers (3-0) will navigate through the mountains and into Lynchburg, Virginia to face the Liberty Flames (2-1) for a three-game weekend series. Game one is set for Friday at 4:00 p.m., game two is on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 1:00 p.m.

To begin year two under the direction of head coach Steve Sabins, West Virginia traveled south and swept Georgia Southern.

The Mountaineers closed the series by taking both ends of a doubleheader last Saturday. In game one, trailing 3-2 in the sixth, WVU erupted with a six-run sixth inning and cruised to a 15-3 win.

The bats stayed hot to open game two with a seven-run first inning. Georgia Southern stormed back to tie the game in the seventh after posting three runs before Gavin Kelly doubled in the eighth to put himself in scoring position and represent the go-ahead run. The sophomore raced home after on wild throw to third after an attempted steal, providing the winning run in an 11-10 nail-biting win.

West Virginia closed the series with a 5-2 win after the Mountaineers applied pressure to the Eagles’ bullpen in the seventh with two runs crossing home on RBI walks.

Sophomore shortstop Matt Ineich led the Mountaineers at the plate, collecting six hits over the weekend while posting a team-best .667 batting average and 1.000 slugging percentage. Senior Ohio State transfer Matthew Graveline added a pair of home runs and drove in a team-leading seven RBI, ranking third on the team with a .385 average. Kelly is hitting .417, good for second on the roster, while Tyrus Hall recorded four hits and scored five runs in his WVU debut and is batting .364.

West Virginia had its struggles on the mound, but senior Reese Bassinger provided 3.2 scoreless innings in relief and junior right-hander Dawson Montesa went six innings, recorded seven strikeouts, and collected his first win in his first start as a Mountaineer.

The Mountaineers are expected to start sophomore right-hander Cole Chansen (6.75 ERA) in series opener, game two features Montesa (1-0, 3.00 ERA), and redshirt junior southpaw Maxx Yehl (4.50 ERA) will take the mound in the series finale.

Bradley LeCroy took over the program last season and opened year two taking two of three at Citadel last weekend and looks to return Liberty to the postseason for the first time since 2022 after three consecutive NCAA appearances.

2026 CUSA Preseason Pitcher of the Year, senior right-hander Ben Blair, tossed six scoreless innings and recorded eight strikeouts in the Flames 7-3 series opening win to earn CUSA Pitcher of the Week. Bradley Zayac threw four scoreless innings in relief to capture the win and secure the series.

Senior Jordan Jaffe exited the weekend leading the Flames with a .364 batting average. Former Mountaineer Nick Barone barreled a two-home run in the opener on the way to a team-high three RBI.

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