Season Preview

AUSTIN DAVIS

Baseball is back in Morgantown with a new-look Mountaineer roster and a strong focus on returning to the top of the Big 12 standings. Led again by coach Randy Mazey, the squad features some exciting newcomers with plenty of potential, mixed in with some veteran, breakout candidates all over the diamond. Together, the group hopes to begin its journey in February and finish it in June in the NCAA Tournament.

Timely hitting and aggressive baserunning have become Mountaineer staples in recent years, as has continued success on the mound. All of those will be key again for WVU to compete against some of the nation’s best that appear on the 2022 slate.

To help get ready for the new campaign, here are 22 notes about the ‘22 Mountaineers:

» West Virginia begins its 127th season of baseball on Feb. 18 against Central Michigan in Conway, South Carolina. » Randy Mazey begins his 10th season at the helm in

Morgantown. The veteran skipper is 263-208 with the

Mountaineers and owns 450 career wins as a head coach.

» Mazey has led West Virginia to a .500-or-better record in eight of his nine seasons on campus. » The Mountaineers’ 53-game schedule features nine opponents that reached the 2021 NCAA Tournament. » New this season is an updated name for the home of the

Mountaineers. Wagener Field at Monongalia County Ballpark took on Rick and Jay Wagener’s namesake on Aug. 30, 2021, following a major gift donation to the program. Rick

Wagener was a standout pitcher at WVU from 1968-71. » WVU is set to play 23 games at Wagener Field at Monongalia

County Ballpark this spring. The squad has never had a losing record in the facility’s seven-year history. » WVU returns 16 lettermen from last season’s squad, including four everyday starters.

BEN HAMPTON

» Senior outfielder Austin Davis was an All-Big 12 Honorable

Mention selection last season, while sophomore left-handed pitcher Ben Hampton and infielder Mikey Kluska appeared on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team in 2021. » Additionally, Hampton was named a Freshman All-American by Perfect Game/Rawlings after finishing his debut season with a 4-3 record and 4.83 ERA in 54 innings of work.

» Davis slashed a team-leading .320 last season. The Orlando,

Florida, native totaled 27 hits in his last 18 games of the 2021 campaign. » West Virginia welcomes 21 newcomers to the mix this season, including a trio of transfers on the mound with prior Division I experience. Fifth-year senior right-handed pitcher

Trey Braithwaite played four seasons at Navy, becoming that program’s all-time leader in saves. Meanwhile, fifth-year senior right-hander Chase Smith spent the first four years of his collegiate career at Pitt, while fifth-year senior righty Zach

Bravo played the last two springs at Lamar. » Additionally, redshirt junior catcher/infielder Dayne Leonard played at Virginia Tech from 2020-21. » WVU’s 40-man roster consists of 16 freshmen, nine sophomores, eight juniors, four seniors and three fifth-year seniors. » Despite a youthful roster, WVU returns seven position players who played in at least 30 games last season, as well as eight pitchers who appeared in at least 10 games on the mound. » Redshirt junior infielder Tevin Tucker returns to the mix after missing the entire 2021 campaign due to injury. Tucker is the lone Mountaineer starter remaining off the 2019 NCAA

Regional squad. » The squad’s ability to steal bases should again be showcased in 2022. Davis has swiped 35 career bases, one away from joining the program’s all-time top 10 in the category. Additionally, Tucker has stolen 26 bases in his career, while junior outfielder Victor Scott II has tallied 24.

VINCE IPPOLITI

» The Mountaineers’ group of newcomers was ranked as the No. 30 signing class in the nation by Perfect Game, marking WVU’s fifth consecutive top-35 class to arrive in Morgantown. » Prior to the year, junior right-handed pitcher Jacob

Watters was named to Perfect Game’s Preseason All-Big 12 Team, while freshman infielder Grant Hussey was the publication’s Preseason Big 12

Freshman of the Year.

» Watters, who also was named a Preseason All-

American by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA), joined Davis on the coaches’ Preseason All-Big 12 Team. WVU was one of four schools to have multiple players represented on the preseason all-conference squad. » Although West Virginia was picked to finished eighth in the Preseason Big 12 poll, the Mountaineers have finished higher than their preseason ranking in five of eight seasons in Big 12 play. » The Mountaineers will be represented by 14 states and one Canadian province this season. A teamleading eight players hail from Pennsylvania. » This year’s team also features six players from the Mountain State: freshman infielder/catcher Joel Gardner (Poca), Hussey (Washington), Kluska (White Sulphur Springs), senior left-handed pitcher

Beau Lowery (Martinsburg), sophomore left-hander Trevor Sharp (Inwood) and redshirt junior righthander Noah Short (Scott Depot).