For the second year in a row, the West Virginia baseball team is headed to the NCAA Super Regionals.

The Mountaineers outlasted Clemson and Kentucky in the Clemson Regional to advance to play LSU in the Round of 16 this weekend in Baton Rouge.

North Carolina swept the Mountaineers last season in the Super Regional, and the returning coaches and players remember the bitter taste of that defeat with a berth to the College World Series on the line.

This year’s team has been on a mission to get back, and has continued to come through in the clutch throughout the postseason.

The Mountaineers’ four-run rally against Kentucky on Sunday got them back to one of the biggest stages in college baseball.

“It was the best three-game set that I have been a part of as a player or coach,” WVU first-year coach Steve Sabins said Tuesday of last week’s Clemson Regional. “I probably have some gray hairs cooking from that weekend, and it had everything you could imagine when it came to excitement.”

WVU (44-14) defeated Kentucky, 4-3, on Friday and then beat Clemson, 9-6, on Saturday before clinching a berth in the Super Regional with a 13-12 triumph over Kentucky again on Sunday.

Ben Lumsden had four RBIs, Gavin Kelly drove in three runs and Armani Guzman hit a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning.

It continued one of the Mountaineers’ most impressive seasons in program history. They won the Big 12 title outright with a 19-9 record and have compiled the most wins in program history, with 44 and counting.

The previous mark was set at 40 wins from the 1994 season when Dale Ramsberg led West Virginia to a conference tournament win and to the NCAA Tournament.

The buzz around Morgantown has been different this season, and Sabins has felt that energy shift.

“The biggest difference for me is after some of those wins you look down at your phone and you have 189 text messages,” said Sabins, who was an assistant coach to retired coach Randy Mazey for nine seasons. “For this place to be the best, you have to have a fanbase and support to understand what’s going on.”

West Virginia has seen a seismic shift in its pitching staff from last year’s run to the current one.

The three pitchers with the most innings all transferred in via the transfer portal — Fox Chapel native Jack Kartsonas (Kent State, John Carroll), Reese Bassinger (Odessa Junior College, Tarleton State) and Griffin Kirn (Quincy).

Kartsonas, who attended Vincentian and graduated from University Prep and is well-known for his long mustache, started his college career at John Carroll in 2020 before transferring to Kent State. After three seasons there, the grad student made his way to West Virginia.

He has posted a 6-3 record, with a 2.94 ERA through 64 1/3 innings pitched.

Two other Pittsburgh natives have been crucial to the Mountaineers’ success. Freshman infielder Gavin Kelly, a Central Catholic alum, delivered a key two-run single in the eighth inning against Kentucky on Sunday. Kelly is batting .294 with 35 RBIs in 49 games this season.

North Allegheny grad Spencer Barnett is making noise as well in his sophomore campaign. Playing in the infield this year, he has made 28 starts, with four home runs and 26 RBIs. Fellow NA grad JD Costanzo, a freshman pitcher, also is a member of the WVU roster but has not logged any innings this season.

LSU (46-15) took down Dallas Baptist and Little Rock to advance to the Super Regionals. The Tigers are 32-6 at home at Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge this season.

The Tigers are one of the nation’s perennial powers, boasting seven national championships, with the most recent coming in 2023 when they defeated Florida in the championship series.

Seven other Super Regionals will take place, starting Friday.

Miami (34-25) will be taking a trip to Louisville to take on the Cardinals (38-21). No. 8 Oregon State (45-13-1) will host No. 9 Florida State (41-14). Arizona (42-18) will play at No. 5 seed North Carolina (45-13). No. 13 Coastal Carolina (51-11) continues its historic season at No. 4 Auburn (41-18).

On Saturday, three games are paired with West Virginia’s series at LSU. UTSA (47-13) takes on the lone Big Ten team at No. 15 UCLA (45-16).

The Cinderella of the tournament, Murray State (42-14) will play at Duke (40-19). And, No. 3 Arkansas (46-13) will welcome SEC rival Tennessee (46-17).

The eight winners from the Super Regionals advance to the College World Series, which starts June 13 in Omaha, Neb.

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