In a historic season for West Virginia baseball -- maybe even the best season in the history of the program -- the success has gone beyond the diamond for the Mountaineers. This season, there has been a focus on players doing well in the classroom in addition to the focus on the field.
It seems like first-year head coach Steve Sabins has put an increased importance on grades for his players. And that focus has resulted in three players being named to the College Sports Communicators' Academic All-Distict Team -- catcher Logan Sauve, shortstop Brodie Kresser, and relief pitcher Reese Bassinger found themselves on the list released earlier this week.
It speaks a lot to the type of program that Sabins wants to have in Morgantown. The team’s 3.42 GPA for the spring semester proves that the coaching staff under Sabins values grades very importantly, and that getting the job done in the classroom as well as on diamond is an expectation for this staff.
Sauve has had a special junior season, and there is a very good chance that he could be entering his name in the 2025 MLB Draft at the end of the season. A First Team All-Big 12 player, a Big 12 Player of the Week, and a finalist on the watchlist for the Buster Posey Award, Sauve has piled up the awards/honors this season. The Buster Posey Award is given to the best-performing catcher in college baseball.
Similarly to Sauve, Kresser has also had a great 2025 season and has been awarded for such a year. Kresser was named on a midseason watchlist for the Brooks Wallace Award, given to the best shortstop in college baseball.
Even though the bullpen has been a question mark recently, Bassinger earned a big role early in the season and has not relinquished that role. Just like Sauve and Kresser, Bassinger was also named to an award watchlist around the halfway point of the season. Bassinger, joined by fellow Mountaineer reliever Chase Meyer, was named to the National College Baseball Writers Association’s (NCBWA) Stopper of the Year Award Watchlist.
It is a great sight to see the three Mountaineers find success on and off the field. Sabins’ program is all about making sure that his players can perform on the field and in the classroom.