By: Jonathan K. Martin | WV Sports Chat
The West Virginia Mountaineers baseball team is off to a scorching start in the 2026 season, climbing into the national spotlight with a solid early ranking boost.
D1Baseball released its latest Top 25 poll, elevating WVU one spot to No. 24 after the Mountaineers secured a 2-1 road series victory over Liberty University. The team entered the week already receiving votes or sitting at No. 25 in prior rankings, but the impressive performance in Lynchburg, Virginia, pushed them firmly into the ranked tier.
West Virginia improved to 5-1 overall with a combination of explosive offense and lights-out pitching. The series opened with a commanding 12-0 shutout on Friday, where the Mountaineers erupted for 12 runs on 11 hits while blanking the Flames.
The real story, however, came in the Saturday doubleheader. WVU claimed the series with a 2-0 victory in Game 1, followed by a narrow 4-1 loss in Game 2. Across the first two games of the series (the 12-0 opener and the 2-0 win), the Mountaineer pitching staff was nearly untouchable—allowing just six combined hits and zero runs over 18 innings. That level of early-season dominance on the mound has caught the attention of national polls.
The Mountaineers now turn their attention to the home opener (originally against Canisius but adjusted due to weather) against Ohio on Wednesday, followed by a road series at Kennesaw State starting later in the week.
