The Next Lefty Star Pitcher for WVU? Mountaineers Land Transfer Griffen Paige

Steve Sabins keeps winning even when the West Virginia Mountaineers aren't playing. On Tuesday night, he and his staff officially picked up a commitment from Wright State transfer pitcher Griffen Paige (6'2", 185 lbs).

The left-handed junior is transferring a little closer to his home of Mount Pleasant Mills, PA, for his final year of eligibility.

Paige spent much of his true freshman season in the bullpen, making 12 relief appearances, but did register a pair of starts, finishing the year with a 5.18 ERA over 24.1 innings of work. In 2025, he moved into a starting role and, as you might expect, experienced some growing pains, ending the campaign with a 7.55 ERA and an opponent's batting average of .270.

This past season, he developed into the ace of Wright State's staff. He racked up 77 punch outs to just 35 walks in 76 innings pitched. Hitters only hit .199 off of him this year, factoring into a much lower WHIP of 1.16 and ERA of 4.14. The long ball was the one issue he had, watching 12 balls leave the park across 14 starts.

Over the years, West Virginia has done Yeoman's work with left-handed starting pitchers from Derek Clark to Griffin Kirn, and now Maxx Yehl. Paige hopes to be the next one in that group and will be a candidate for the starting rotation next season. Worst-case scenario, he becomes a bulk guy out of the pen, taking on a similar role to the one Ian Korn currently holds.

Paige is the first left-handed transfer pitcher to commit to the Mountaineers this summer and will certainly not be the last. Steve Sabins has mentioned a handful of times recently that it is pivotal to have a reliable lefty in the bullpen that they can go to for lefty on lefty matchups late in games and to also provide a different look. Considering Paige has limited experience as a reliever, I would fully anticipate WVU to continue browsing the portal for southpaws to add to the pen. With Bryson Thacker transferring out, Josh Surigao is the only left-hander with experience currently on the roster.

West Virginia's 2026 transfer portal commits

RHP Korey Alston (Odessa JC), RHP Drew Becker (Ashland, D-II), INF Ryan Piekutoski (USC-Sumter JC), OF Colin Coonradt (Johnson County JC), OF Seth Williams (Galveston College JC), LHP Griffen Paige (Wright State), RHP Austin Ziance (Marietta College).

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