The West Virginia baseball team wrapped up their regular season on Saturday, taking two out of three games on the road from TCU, finishing the season with a series win.
The Mountaineers went 33-20 in 2024, including a 19-11 record against conference opponents and a 17-6 record at home. They are the fourth-seeded team in the upcoming Big 12 and will once again take on the Horned Frogs.
In head coach Randy Maxey’s last season, a season that saw record crowds and records broken on the diamond, WVU had their ups and downs, but will ultimately try to make their mark in the postseason. The following will include West Virginia’s top three leaders in major statistical categories from the 2024 regular season as they gear up for runs at championships.
Batting Average
JJ Wetherholt technically has the highest batting average on the team with a .375, but does not meet the minimum requirement of two plate appearances per game and 75% of games played, since missing extended time with a hamstring strain. So, instead, it goes to Sam White, who played in all of the Mountaineers’ 53 games, starting 52 with a .316 average. Senior third baseman Reed Chumley follows White, with a .310 average and junior middle infielder Brodie Kresser comes in third with a .288 average.
Home Runs and RBIs
As these two statistics usually are heavily associated with each other, the leaders in home runs and RBIs are similar. Chumley led WVU in both home runs with 15 and RBIs with 45. Grant Hussey, who broke the school’s all-time home run record this season and Kyle West share the runner-up spot for homers with 12. West had the third-most RBIs on the team with 38 White had the second-most with 39, and the fourth-most home runs with 10.
Stolen Bases
Kresser led the team in stolen bases with 11 on 13 attempts. Armani Guzman, a freshman, who was well-utilized as a pinch runner, playing in 30 games, only making two starts was a perfect 10-for-10 on stolen base attempts. Skylar King was third with nine stolen bases on 12 attempts.
ERA (Earned Run Average) and Strikeouts
Only three pitchers qualified for the minimum requirement of pitching an inning per game, all starters, who also all had the most strikeouts. Derek Clark had the lowest ERA among them with a 3.05 and the second-most strikeouts with 73. Clark was the only pitcher to throw a complete game (3) and a complete game shutout (1). Aidan Major posted a 5.75 ERA and had the most punchout’s with 74, pitching in 18.2 fewer innings than Clark. Tyler Switalski was third in both ERA with a 5.94 and strikeouts with 51.
Saves
Coach Mazey looked to a couple of different pitchers to close out ball games in 2024. Hambleton Oliver and Luke Lyman share the team lead for saves with three, followed by David Hagaman and Maxx Yehl with two apiece. Carson Estridge was the only other pitcher to record a save, which came against Pitt on April 16.
