Grading WVU Baseball Head Coach Steve Sabins' Hot Start

WVU baseball has started as well as they possibly could this season.

Starting 7-0 for the first time since 1966, the Mountaineers are on a hot streak. Some of this early success can be attributed to first-year head coach Steve Sabins, the hand-picked successor to former WVU manager Randy Mazey.

Coming off an NCAA Super Regional appearance a season ago, which saw WVU lose to UNC, Sabins entered the 2025 season with high expectations despite being new to leading a program. Sabins has been coaching at WVU since 2016, holding the titles of Assistant Coach, Recruiting Coordinator, and Associate Head Coach before being named WVU’s Head Coach in June of 2024.

Grade for Steve Sabins so far: A+

Why has Sabins been successful so far in seven games?

There have been a number of impressive facets to WVU's early performance on the diamond in 2025. Let's take a look at what has went into the red-hot start to Sabins' tenure leading the WVU baseball program.

Pitching success fueled by consistent reliever performances

During the seven-game win streak, the Mountaineers have gotten some solid performances from their starters. However, the bullpen has shined so far. Relievers Chase Meyer, Carson Estridge, Jack Kartsonas, and presumable closer Reese Bassinger have outperformed expectations from many fans coming into the 2025 season.

The senior pitcher, Bassinger, has pitched in 8.1 innings with a 1.08 ERA, six strikeouts, and one win. Bassinger has been a huge bright spot for the Mountaineers out of the bullpen. Carson Estridge has also been extremely impactful so far this season. The junior pitcher has pitched 9.1 innings with a 0.00 ERA, has a 9/1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and has collected two of the first seven wins for the Mountaineers.

Offensive production from multiple players

In addition to the offensive emergence from Skylar King, who is hitting an absurd .526 in seven games, WVU has five players who are batting with at least a .300 average, including King -- Alex Marot just missed the cut with a .294 average.

The Mountaineers also have four hitters with an OPS of at least .800 or higher. Taking a deeper look into this offense, there has been a priority to get on base and run. Sabins has continued the WVU tradition of being aggressive on base while also mostly avoiding getting caught stealing. As of right now, there are four Mountaineers with at least two stolen bases with Armani Guzman leading the team in stolen bases and displaying a perfect 3-of-3 on stolen base attempts.

Solid Defense: Making the Routine Plays

In the first seven games, several Mountaineer pitchers have made defensive plays, getting off the mound and fielding their position efficiently. WVU pitchers have also recorded 9 assists and one putout so far this season.

Junior outfielder Skylar King also made a tremendous web gem play during the Lipscomb series finale on Monday.

As a team, the Mountaineers have a .976 fielding percentage with a total of six errors in seven games. You would like to see that number come down a little bit and the fielding percentage increase, but I believe with time and more reps for everyone the defense will start to tighten up as they get deeper into the season.

Overall, Sabins has really gelled and molded this team to be legit contenders. After being picked to finish fourth in the Big 12, WVU has their sights at returning to a Super Regional under first-year head coach Sabins.