WVU baseball got off to a fast start in the opening series of the 2025 college baseball season, taking the first three games against Jacksonville.
Head coach Steve Sabins began his tenure with WVU in a positive way after the opening series in Jacksonville. WVU baseball has gotten off to a 3-0 start for the second time in the last 13 seasons.
The Mountaineers handed the ball to Griffin Kirn in the season opener. Kirn, a redshirt senior who spent his first four seasons at Quincy University. He was able to spin a 5.2 inning outing, tallying five strikeouts and allowing only one hit and one run in WVU’s 4-2 win. In the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, Robby Porco was named the starter. Porco didn’t go as deep into the game as Kirn but still gave the team a good start over his 3.2 innings pitched. Porco struck out four Jacksonville hitters and surrendered two earned runs. WVU was able to take game one of the doubleheader by a score of 3-2. Gavin Van Kempen got the ball in the third and final matchup between these two teams, in four innings of work he allowed three hits for one run while punching out six batters.
In the three games that WVU played at Jacksonville, the pitching staff surrendered six earned runs and only allowed a total of 16 hits in 25.0 innings.
On the offensive end, Skylar King led the Mountaineers over the weekend, ending the weekend with a .600 batting average. King recorded six hits in the first 10 at-bats to start the year, including a two-run home run in game two of the doubleheader. King also drove in five runs for the Mountaineers over the three games.
Brodie Kresser also had a big weekend at the plate, starting his season off 5-9, which is good for a .556 batting average. Kresser also drove in one run for the team.
The Mountaineers got off to a quick 3-0 start after sweeping Jacksonville in the first weekend of the season. The team will take the field again on Friday, Feb. 21st, at 2 p.m. EST in Nashville, Tennessee, when they take on Lipscomb. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
