By R.L. Bynum
West Virginia, led by likely top-10 draft pick JJ Wetherholt, comes to Boshamer Stadium after sweeping through the Tucson Regional in three games without facing No. 1 regional seed Arizona.
The Mountaineers (36–22) will make the program’s first Super Regional appearance, facing No. 4 overall seed North Carolina (45–14) in the best-of-three series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. (ESPN) at Boshamer Stadium.
The Mountaineers, No. 37 in the RPI, were eliminated from the Big 12 tournament in two games but advanced to the Super Regional as the No. 3 regional seed with a 4–1 win over Dallas Baptist and two victories over Grand Canyon, 5–2 on Saturday and 10–6 on Sunday.
West Virginia, which piled up 17 hits in Sunday’s win, is one of five regional No. 3 seeds to advance to a Super Regional, along with fellow Big 12 team Kansas State, as well as Florida, UConn and Oregon. In addition, Evansville emerged from the Greenville Regional as the only No. 4 seed to advance after ousting East Carolina.
After winning a program-record 40 games in 2023, the Mountaineers, who are 14–14 on the road this season, made the NCAA tournament for the fourth time in 11 seasons under Coach Randy Mazey, who is retiring after 16 seasons in Morgantown.
Wetherholt, a junior shortstop/designated hitter, and senior left-handed ace pitcher Derek Clark, the Tucson Regional Most Outstanding Player, were the only Mountaineers to make first-team All-Big 12.
Wetherholt was the Big 12 Player of the Year in 2023 when he hit .449, the best batting average by a Power Five conference player since Florida State’s Buster Posey (.463) in 2008, and won the Big 12 batting title by 71 points.
Wetherholt missed the first 24 games with a hamstring injury, and while West Virginia’s leadoff man’s numbers fell this season, he still led the team at .345, with eight home runs, a .621 slugging percentage, a 1.132 OPS and 30 walks against only 15 strikeouts.
An MLB mock draft has him going No. 8 to the Los Angeles Angels. That same mock draft has UNC center fielder Vance Honeycutt as the No. 17 pick to the Milwaukee Brewers.
Clark, a 5–7, 170-pound transfer from Division II Northwood University (Mich.), was 8–2 with a 2.82 ERA and four complete games and a shutout in 13 appearances, walking 20 and striking out 83.
The only Mountaineer to make second-team All-Big 12 was third baseman Reed Chumley. A senior transfer from Houston Christian, he hit .310 while leading the team in home runs (15), RBI (48), total bases (122), slugging percentage (.652) and wins above replacement (3.06).
Making honorable mention All-Big 12 were right-handed pitcher Aidan Major (5–4, 5.48 ERA), sophomore outfielder Sam White (.309, 10 homers, 42 RBI) and junior infielder Kyle West (.249, 12 homers, 38 RBI, eight steals).
West Virginia lost closer David Hagaman to an arm injury for the season in mid-April.
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UNC and WVU have two common opponents.
The Tar Heels beat Charlotte 13–1 on April 30 in a seven-inning run-rule game, while the Mountaineers won two of three in a late February series in Charlotte, winning 12–8 and 8–1 before losing the Feb. 24 series finale 3–2.
West Virginia swept two games against Pittsburgh, winning at home 6–3 on April 16 at 11–1 at Pitt on April 30. UNC won all three meetings, sweeping a three-game set in early March, 2–1, 7–4 and 6–5 in 10 innings before winning 12–2 at the ACC tournament
Chapel Hill Regional
At Boshamer Stadium
Friday’s results
No. 3 seed East Carolina 7, No. 3 seed (No. 23-ranked) Tennessee 3, 14 innings
No. 1 seed (and No. 4-ranked) North Carolina 8, No. 4 seed VCU 0
Saturday’s results
VCU 5, Tennessee 4; Tennessee eliminated
North Carolina 7, East Carolina 5
Sunday’s results
East Carolina 10, VCU 0; VCU eliminated
North Carolina 9, East Carolina 3; UNC wins regional
Chapel Hill Super Regional
No. 4-ranked and No. 5-seed North Carolina (50–12–1) vs. Southern Cal (48–18)
Best-of-3 series
Boshamer Stadium
Game 1: USC 9, UNC 5
Game 2: UNC 4, USC 0
Game 3: UNC 4, USC 3; UNC wins series 2-1
UNC opens the College World Series on Friday or Saturday against No. 18 and unseeded Ole Miss (41–21), which swept No. 5 Auburn in the Auburn Super Regional, winning 6–4 on Friday and 5–3 on Saturday. The other two teams in the double-elimination four-team field on the left side of the bracket are Troy (38–30) and No. 16-seed West Virginia (45–15).
West Virginia season statistics
Photo via wvusports.com
