MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — The West Virginia baseball team checks in at No. 14 in D1Baseball.com’s Preseason Top-25 Rankings, the organization announced Monday.
It is believed to be West Virginia’s highest preseason ranking in any major poll in program history. The Mountaineers are one of five Big 12 schools to appear in the preseason rankings, joining No. 3 Texas Tech, No. 9 Texas, No. 10 TCU and No. 20 Oklahoma State.
Florida tops the list, while UCLA ranks No. 2. Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and Louisville round out the top five. Ole Miss ranks No. 6, ahead of No. 7 Mississippi State and No. 8 Arkansas. Texas and TCU cap the poll’s top 10.
WVU is coming off a COVID-19-shortened, 11-5 season in 2020, marking the club’s best 16-game start since 2009. The Mountaineers are set to welcome 25 returners back to the squad this spring, including eight of nine starters. Also returning are freshman left-handed pitcher Jake Carr and catcher/infielder Matt McCormick, who earned Freshman All-America honors by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper last season.
West Virginia last appeared in D1Baseball’s preseason poll in 2018, when it was placed at No. 22. The rankings are determined by D1Baseball national writers Aaron Fitt, Kendall Rogers and Mike Rooney.
