West Virginia
No. 12 West Virginia Travels to Kansas State
Manhattan, KS – No. 12 West Virginia will wrap up its Big 12 Conference road schedule this weekend at Kansas State for a three-game series and aim to capture its second conference title in three years, while the Wildcats (28-20, 14-10) look to bolster their postseason resume.
The Mountaineers (39-8) fell to rival Pitt Tuesday night, marking the third midweek loss to a regional rival (Penn State, Marshall, Pitt) in as many weeks. Nonetheless, WVU has won six straight Big 12 series and sit atop the conference standings with an 18-4 league record with a two and half game lead over Arizona State, and a 3.5 game advantage of Kansas, Arizona, and TCU.
With six Big 12 games remaining, West Virginia needs three wins to solidify its first outright regular season championship. In addition, with every Arizona State loss, the win total shrinks. The Sun Devils host Houston this weekend.
West Virginia is tied for second in the Big 12 with a .305 team batting average and ranks third in RBI (169) and runs (180) during conference action. Eight Mountaineers are batting over .300 during league play. Junior Sam White leads the way with a .362 batting average with five doubles, a home run and 15 RBI.
On the season, White is batting a team-leading .367. Meanwhile, Jace Rinehart leads the team with 46 RBI and is tied with seniors Grant Hussey and Kyle West and junior Logan Suave for a team-high seven home runs – Six of Sauve’s seven home runs have come against Big 12 clubs.
The steady arm of West Virginia senior Griffin Kirn (4-1, 3.59 ERA, 70 K) will start in game one. The lefty is 1-1 in Big 12 games with 48 strikeouts to 12 walks.
Chase Meyer (8-2) is set to make his third start of the season in game two. The sophomore right-hander has been fierce on the mound this season, owning a 2.31 ERA with 51 strikeouts in primarily a reliever role. He’s made two previous starts this season, both during midweek contests with the most recent start coming against Pitt Wednesday night. He tossed two innings and recorded two strikeouts and allowed one hit. In his first start of the season against Towson in March, he threw two hitless innings with three Ks.
Right-hander Jack Kartsonas (6-1, 1.84 ERA, 51 K) is scheduled to start the series finale. The senior has worked his way back from an offseason surgery and into the weekend rotation. He holds a 1.03 ERA with 24 strikeouts in his last four starts.
Kansas State is expected to counter with lefty Jacob Frost (1-3, 4.86 ERA. 58 K) in the series opener. The senior had a rough outing last week against BYU, giving up three runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. In his previous two starts. He registered 18 strikeouts, including a career-high 10 Ks against rival Kansas, in 13.2 innings of work.
Senior Michael Quevedo (6-1, 5.27 ERA, 66 K) is slated for game two. The lefty matched a career-high 10 strikeouts to collect his sixth win of the season against BYU.
Left-hander Lincoln Sheffield (6-4, 5.64 ERA, 59 K) is scheduled for game three. The junior tossed seven innings with a season-high eight strikeouts in his Big 12 debut against Utah in the conference series opener.
The Wildcats started its Big 12 slate 8-1 but dropped six straight (Oklahoma State, Kansas) before taking the last two series against Houston and BYU.
Kansas State ranks second in the league with 86 home runs, third in slugging percentage (.506) and fourth in runs (367).
Senior Keegan O’Conner leads the team at the plate with a .338 batting average and following a record-tying three home runs, upping his total to a team-best 15 home runs and for his efforts, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
Maximus Martin has raked in a team-high 53 RBI, which ranks third in the league, and is hitting .337 on the season and is tied with senior Seth Dardar for a team-high 15 doubles.
West Virginia leads the all-time series 2015.
The series opens Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. EST, game two is slated for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. EST and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST.
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West Virgnia built a six-run lead through five and half innings, but the Kennesaw State Owls (5-5) scored seven unanswered runs in three frames to knock off the Mountaineers (8-2) Sunday afternoon 7-6.
West Virginia captured an early 2-0 lead in the top of the first after sophomore Matt Ineich hit a leadoff single before sophomore Gavin Kelly and senior Paul Schoenfeld were issued walks to load the bases with two outs on the board. Then, redshirt freshman Ryan Maggy line a two-RBI single to centerfield in his first career start.
The Mountaineers extended their lead in the second when Kelly hit a three went opposite field for a three-run home run, his first of the season, for a 5-0 advantage.
West Virginia starting southpaw pitcher Maxx Yehl threw five scoreless innings. The redshirt junior recorded four strikeouts on the day and limited the Owls to four hits.
Kelly added a run in the sixth, clearing the centerfield wall for his second home run of the afternoon and a 6-0 WVU lead.
Redshirt sophomore Bryson Thacker took the mound in the six. After a high and wide throw on a ground ball, a walk, and with two outs, junior Cooper Williams drooped an RBI single in right field to put the Owls on the board. Then, a pitch in the dirt rolled to the backstop to add another run, closing the gap to four, 6-2.
Carson Estridge was handed the ball in the seventh. The senior right-hander gave up a leadoff double before registering the next two outs, including a strikeout, before freshman McCollum line an RBI single just out of the reach of the glove of Kelly. Senior Jackson Chirello cut the deficit one, hammering the 3-1 pitch well over the right field wall and into the Waffle House parking lot for a two-run home run.
West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins turned to the clubhouse leader in saves David Perez to get the Mountaineers out of the inning. The freshman returned to the mound in the eighth. Senior Jamarie Brooks reached after hitting a sharp ground ball over to first that went between the legs of senior Ben Lumsden. Then, Williams blasted a two-run home run and a 7-6 Owls lead.
In the ninth, senior Matthew Graveline nearly tied the game with the swing of the bat, driving 0-2 pitch off the top of the left field wall for a one-out double to put the Mountaineers into scoring position. However, redshirt senior Harry Cain sat the last two Mountaineer hitters to collect his second win of the season as the Owls completed the comeback with the 7-6 decision.
West Virginia is back in action on Tuesday for the first of a two-game series against Radford. Game one and game two (Weds) are both scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and the all the action will stream on ESPN+.
Delegate Larry Kump of Berkeley County has died, state officials announced. Kump was 78 years old.
Kump, a Republican, served in the House from 2010 to 2014, again from 2018 to 2020 and finally 2022 to the present. He had announced plans to run again in the coming electoral cycle.
“As a battle-tested and liberty minded Christian and Constitutional Conservative, my consecrated action principles of good governance remains solid and steadfast,” he wrote to supporters in January.
He had been serving in the ongoing legislative session, but had been absent in recent weeks.
The daily prayer in the House of Delegates this past Wednesday included an expression of concern for Kump: “A special prayer for Delegate Larry Kump. Lord, you know where he is in the hospital now, and I pray right now that you would send your angels there to touch him, to be with him.”
Gov. Patrick Morrisey announced Kump’s death on social media, calling Kump “a devoted public servant who dedicated many years of his life to improving West Virginia.
“Delegate Kump served with a deep commitment to the principles he believed would strengthen our communities and protect our freedoms.
“On behalf of the First Lady and myself, we extend our condolences to Larry’s family, friends, former colleagues, and all those who had the privilege of knowing and serving alongside him. His legacy of service and his love for our state will never be forgotten.”
Secretary of State Kris Warner also posted condolences to Kump’s family. “Larry was a conservative Christian and a true Mountaineer! He will be sadly missed by his friends and colleagues,” Warner posted.
The West Virginia Democratic Party also put out a statement to offer condolences, saying Kump’s work reflected a lifelong commitment to accountability, public policy, and the effective administration of government.
“Delegate Larry Kump devoted his life to his family, his community, and to his state. He brought experience, independence and thoughtfulness to his role, and he never lost sight of the people he served,” said Mike Pushkin, the Democratic Party chairman who is also a delegate from Kanawha County.
Kump was known for his turns of phrase, for example kicking off his comments on the House floor with “Great googly moogly” for emphasis. He often described his adoration for his “beloved and bodacious wife Cheryl.”
He regularly concluded interactions and written communications this way: “Meanwhile, and for sure and for certain, may God bless you all real good!”
West Virginia
Vape Safety Act of 2026 passes W.Va. House, tightening oversight and licensing for shops
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WCHS) — The Vape Safety Act of 2026 passed in the West Virginia House of Delegates on Friday, aiming to crack down on what lead sponsor of the bill Del. David McCormick, R-Monongalia, said are the bad actors in the vape shop world.
“They’re very lightly regulated,” McCormick said. “Here’s something that is becoming a blight on our landscape out here in our neighborhoods and towns. They’re all over the state and they need some oversight.”
McCormick said the bill will also strengthen licensing as to who can run the shops.
A key part of the legislation that passed the House by a vote of 88-5 is an FDA registry, requiring all the products sold in the shops to be approved at the federal level.
“Make sure that something doesn’t have 30 times the nicotine in it that it’s supposed to, which has happened, and get a 12-year-old kid addicted to nicotine,” McCormick. “That’s buying something that looks like Pokémon.”
Cracking down on the marketing strategies vape shops use is also included in the bill. It has gained support from both sides of the aisle.
“You walk into them and they have you know it looks fun and all the flavors and all the things,” Del. Hollis Lewis, D-Kanawha said. “So when teens go in there, it’s geared towards teens. So I think some regulation is important.”
Other provisions include vape shops not being allowed within 300 feet of schools, libraries or churches.
“I would deem these things almost attractive nuisance for kids and teenagers,” Lewis said. “What we want to do in this piece of legislation, we want to ultimately, above anything else, is protect our children and to get rid of bad actors to make sure that we know what’s being sold in the shop and we know who’s selling it.”
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