West Virginia begins a three-game series on the road on Thursday night as the Mountaineers face BYU.
While all Big 12 series are important, it’s even more vital the Mountaineers get a win after dropping two of three to Arizona last week. However, WVU’s depth will certainly be tested as injuries are starting to take their toll.
For most of the season thus far, WVU’s batting lineup has been steady at the top with Brodie Kresser leading off, Logan Sauve batting second, and Sam White batting third.
This past weekend against Arizona, two-thirds of that equation was taken out as Sauve got hurt on a slide on Saturday, and White exited Sunday’s game early after dislocating his shoulder celebrating.
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“Logan, inflammation of the shoulder. He just landed on his shoulder sliding, had this inflammation. So we’re pretty hopeful that he’s going to be able to return at some point this weekend. Sam White, more pain, he dislocated his shoulder, and so I think with that just comes more time. So not a doctor, don’t know exactly what that means, but probably a longer time frame for Sam White. I would imagine not ready this weekend, begin more physical therapy, treatment, that kind of stuff,” WVU head coach Steve Sabins said.
Sabins has had to reshuffle his lineup on Sunday as well as on Tuesday against Marshall, but he’s relying upon his depth to carry them through this. Freshman Gavin Kelly replaced Sauve, while it’s somewhat of a trial by matchups between Armani Guzman and Spencer Barnett at second base.
“Sam White and Logan were obviously out, two of our leaders and best position players on our team, but we’ve talked about the depth of our team. And Barnett and Guzman entered the lineup, and they were both really good today. I was proud of Guzman. He was two for four, he stayed on a changeup, which he had trouble with before, had an RBI off of a changeup, and then showed his bunt skill, left on left, left-handed pitcher on the mound, bunted and was safe late in the game. And so he’s evolving to becoming a ball player and not just an athlete, so really fired up about what he did. And Spencer, I believe, drew two walks, and that’s what that guy does. He’s a quality at-bat most of the time, so he slipped into Sam White’s spot at second base,” Sabins said.
As for Kelly, there’s no surprise for his success whether he be behind the dish or in the designated hitter spot. Kelly is fourth on the team in batting average, as well as fourth in runs scored, despite having just the eighth-most at-bats. Kelly has also produced defensively, throwing multiple runners out this past weekend.
“If you do a scouting report and you watch Gavin Kelly, it’ll say it’s going to be really hard to run on. And so within two weeks of catching more, he’s basically established you can’t run on the guy because it’s really good arm strength, and good transfer, and pop times. And so they tested him early and they found out,” Sabins said.
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WVU begins a three-game series against BYU on Thursday, with the first pitch of game one set for 8:30 p.m.
Join the Main Street Morgantown family-friendly holiday shopping event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday (Dec. 13) in Downtown Morgantown.
The event will feature a district-wide scavenger hunt for a chance to win prizes and the opportunity to explore holiday pop-up markets by Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op and Apothecary Ale House.
While exploring downtown shops, participants who spot DASH the Dog can collect stamps. Each stamp brings participants closer to the chance of winning prizes from downtown merchants such as gift cards and goods. To qualify for prizes, completed Downtown Dash Guides with five or more stamps must be turned into Hoot and Howl, The Co-Op, Apothecary Ale House or at Breezeline’s play-to-win tent on Courthouse Square.
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As a break from shopping, parents and their little ones can visit Kids Craft, Cookies & Cocoa Central at the WARD Building to enjoy a complimentary hot cocoa and cookie bar and children’s crafts provided by Hotel Morgan sponsored by Main Street Morgantown and Breezeline.
Visitors can also visit the beautiful 25-foot-tall holiday tree on display at Courthouse Square, a collaboration between the City of Morgantown, Monongalia County and Main Street Morgantown.
Sponsored by Breezeline, the Downtown Dash celebrates the holiday season, promotes walking and shopping throughout the downtown district, and supports local businesses by driving foot traffic directly to storefronts.
WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.
Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.
“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”
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WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.
“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.
The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.
Now that you know about West Virginia’s2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.
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What happened, and where did they go?
QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)
McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.
RB Jett Walker (Texas)
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Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later
WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)
Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.
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OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)
The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.
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LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)
Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).
LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)
Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.
CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)
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Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.
S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)
West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.
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S Jaylon Jones (undecided)
Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.
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S Taj Powell (Louisville)
Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.
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