Steve Sabins is in his first offseason following his debut season leading WVU baseball, and he has done one thing for certain -- and that's hitting the transfer portal hard.
Looking to build depth for their 2026 pitching staff, the Mountaineers received a commitment from Andrew Middleton on July 2. The left-hander will join the WVU pitching staff as a transfer from UMass, where he spent his first two collegiate seasons in the Atlantic 10.
Next stop, Almost heaven! #HailWV pic.twitter.com/zOm2gFHepZ
— Andrew Middleton (@AMiddles16) July 2, 2025
Middleton has recorded 35 innings pitched in his first two seasons at the collegiate level -- in those outings, Middleton has a career 3.09 ERA with 54 strikeouts to only 27 walks. The 6-foot-2, 225-pounder shows an ability to fill up the strike zone and limit the traffic on the basepaths.
Middleton will join other transfer pitchers such as Bryson Thacker, Chansen Cole, Ian Korn, Dawson Montesa, and Josh Surigao as Sabins looks to retool his WVU pitching staff for the next season. One of the biggest areas of need for the Mountaineers in the portal was a deep pitching staff, and Sabins has accomplished that well.
One of the most impressive things that jumps off the stat page for Middleton was his opponents' batting average. In 2025, the left-hander held opposing hitters to just a .029 batting average. Granted, that extremely low batting average was only over 11.2 innings -- however, his career opponents’ batting average is .143, showing that he has proven over multiple seasons that he can consistently keep batters from making significant contact at the plate.
Combining his ability to control walks and keep hits limited for the other team, Middleton can be a great arm either in the weekend starting rotation or in the bullpen. And another impressive stat for Middleton -- in his career 35 innings, he has only given up one extra base hit, a double in his freshman year.
Middleton also brings something for the Mountaineers that no other current addition to their pitching staff can -- significant Division 1 game experience. Thacker comes from Tennessee but pitched just four innings as a freshman, and Surigao pitched even fewer innings during his inaugural collegiate season at Hawaii. The team's other transfer additions at pitcher all come from the Division 2 level.