West Virginia put their recent late-game struggles to bed on Friday against Kentucky in the first game of the Clemson Regional.
The Mountaineers trailed 3-0 early on, before they tied the game in the sixth, and then ended up walking off the Wildcats on a sacrifice-fly from Armani Guzman, as WVU won 4-3.
Entering this weekend, the Mountaineers had gone 2-7 in their last nine games, with many of those losses coming on late-inning collapses. West Virginia reversed that fortune, as they didn’t allow a run after the fourth inning, and held on in the ninth, despite an error to start the inning.
“The last three weeks have been choppy. We had played okay baseball down the stretch, so to come into this environment on the biggest stage and possibly play our best game in the biggest moment and also get our first walk-off of the season on the road is really special. I think we have the most road wins in the country, and so it’s fitting for this team to come on the road and to be able to get their first walk-off,” West Virginia head coach Steve Sabins said.
Advertisement
Sabins changed around WVU’s lineup on Friday, with one of the moves being the change of Armani Guzman to start at third base. This was only his third start since April 4th, but he came up big for Sabins and company as he went 2-for-3 and had the game-winning at-bat.
The adversity WVU has gone through recently prepared them for this moment, Sabins said. WVU blew leads to Pitt and Kansas State on the road, before getting swept by Kansas in the final weekend of the season.
“They’ve been this way. They’ve been resilient. There’s certain moments throughout the season where you can see growth and and without some struggle or adversity, you don’t ever have that opportunity to see that, and so we’ve won very consistently for a really, really long time,” Sabins said.
The reason WVU isn’t a host this weekend is because of their late-season losses, but Sabins says those lessons learned helped his team learn the importance of winning, something that paid dividends on Friday.
“I think we were three-quarters of the way through the season, and we had the best winning percentage in the country, and so although that was wonderful and allowed us to play here today, it probably didn’t allow for a lot of growth throughout the season of battling back and me needing to be creative with some lineups and change some things and feel in the heat.
Advertisement
“Over the course of the last two or three weeks, I think we had been a little bit stale, and so I think that staleness resulted in a little bit of a fire in our guys and from me to try to make sure that we’re getting the right players in the right positions to be successful because ultimately, that’s my responsibility. So I think through those hard times, you have an opportunity to do something special, and so for these kids to show up here on this day and to have the walk-off win is certainly special for our program, and hopefully that’s kind of the next chapter of our season,” Sabins said.
West Virginia looks to have their magical moment propel them through the regional as they play in the 1-0 game on Saturday night.
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.
Advertisement
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,.”
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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)
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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)
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
Advertisement
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.
MORE STORIES FROM WEST VIRGINIA ON SI
Two Michigan Players WVU Should Pursue if They Enter Portal Following Coaching Change
Cooper Young Adds Name to Growing List of Expected WVU Portal Entries
Advertisement
WVU is Set to Lose Former Top In-State Recruit to the Transfer Portal
Advertisement
Former West Virginia Coordinator Fired After Just One Season at Texas
Another West Virginia Running Back Expected to Hit the Transfer Portal
