West Virginia Mountaineers
Overall Rank: #43
Conference Rank: #5 Big 12
West Virginia’s 21 year NCAA Tournament drought came to an end last season and now the Mountaineers will look to start a streak of tournament appearances. Coach Randy Mazey continues to bring in highly regarded recruiting classes so the Mountaineers can reload. However, this group does not need to do much reloading on the mound. BJ Myers, Alek Manoah, Michael Groves, Kade Strowd and Isaiah Kearns all started at least eight games last year. There is certainly room for improvement across the board, but WVU has a lot of experienced options.
2017: 36-26, 12-12
2017 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Randy Mazey
Key Departed Players:
Kyle Davis, OF, .316 BA, 10 HR, 44 RBI
Cole Austin, IF, .302 BA, 7 HR, 44 RBI
Jackson Cramer, 1B, .270 BA, 11 HR, 46 RBI
Jackson Sigman, P, 4.94 ERA, 58.1 IP, 73 SO
Key Returning Players:
Ivan Gonzalez, C/IF, .317 BA, 5 HR, 29 RBI
Darius Hill, OF, .307 BA, 4 HR, 46 RBI
BJ Myers, P, 4.52 ERA, 97.2 IP, 73 SO
Alek Manoah, P, 3.07 ERA, 55.2 IP, 45 SO
Projection:
Closer Braden Zarbnisky returns as well and he is also dangerous at the plate after batting a team high .336. Getting on base should not be an issue for this team with speedsters like Zarbnisky and Brandon White. However, finding new players to replace the powerful bats of Kyle Davis, Cole Austin and Jackson Cramer could be an issue. Ivan Gonzalez and Darius Hill are the returning options who are capable of picking up the slack. Gonzalez hit .317 last year with five homeruns and 29 RBIs. Hill added four homeruns and tied Cramer with a team high 46 RBIs. If those two can get a little help driving in runs and the pitching staff improves with that year of experience under their belt, West Virginia should be able to get back to the NCAA Tournament and perhaps pull off an upset or two.
Projected Postseason: NCAA Baseball Tournament
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