The West Virginia Mountaineers got off to a hot start this season under second year head coach Steve Sabins, and at one point, they were projected as a potential No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament – which allow the Mountaineers to bring the opening weekend action to Morgantown.
But to earn that type of seeding, it requires consistently stellar play throughout the season. And recently, the Mountaineers were handed a tough pair of losses that will go a long way in hindering their hopes of bringing postseason action to Wagener Field at Kendrick Family Ballpark.
The first loss came at the hands of the Houston Cougars, who entered a road series in Morgantown last weekend as the last-place team in the Big 12 standings before upsetting the Mountaineers 10-7 to open the series. And losing to a team that's currently 18-21 and in the cellar of the Big 12 won't do any favors toward your tournament resume.
Now, the Mountaineers bounced back nicely and won the series, but they unfortunately dropped to No. 28 in the RPI rankings to begin the week – rankings which play a prominent role in determining seeding in the postseason. And before Tuesday's game against Pitt, the Mountaineers had dropped to a projected No. 2 seed in the tournament field.
So @BaseballAmerica has its newest Field of 64 projections out.
— James (@mountaineerjdub) April 21, 2026
Here is what they say about #WVU:
“West Virginia’s RPI dropped to No. 28 as of April 20, a number that becomes increasingly difficult to overlook despite strong overall and conference win totals.”
Regional below: pic.twitter.com/6ogQKibwwj
But then, with the Backyard Brawl presenting the perfect opportunity to earn a quality non-conference win against an ACC opponent, the Mountaineers were hit with the worst-case scenario, as Pitt decimated WVU in front of a packed home crowd, running away with a 23-1 victory via run rule in the seventh inning.
And while Pitt isn't a bad opponent per se, this Backyard Brawl loss isn't the type of defeat the committee tends to ignore. Getting beat by single digits but ultimately sweeping a weekend series is one thing, and overlooked if a team's record is strong enough. But it's hard to suffer a 22-run loss to anyone and still be viewed as one of the top 16 teams in college baseball, especially after dropping a game to bad team less than a week earlier.
So don't sell your stocks on West Virginia baseball as an NCAA Tournament team – you can even hold onto your shares of Super Regional stocks, although the Mountaineers have a lot to fix if they want to get there. But if you were hoping for regional action at Kendrick Family Ballpark this spring, maybe temper your expectations.
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