West Virginia heads down south to the Clemson Regional this weekend, eyeing their second Super Regional appearance in as many years.
WVSports.Com previews the regional, looking at each team.
Clemson
Clemson enters as the No. 11 overall seed in the tournament, as they made a run to the ACC Championship game and finished one game behind the regular season champs in Georgia Tech.
Clemson is hosting for the third year in a row, losing in the Super Regionals to Florida last season.
This year, the Tigers hold wins over Big 12 schools Oklahoma State and Arizona, and have the ninth-best RPI in the country. Clemson's strength of schedule ranks 16th nationally as well.
The Tigers had the fifth-most runs scored in the ACC this season, while their ERA as a pitching staff was eighth in the conference. Clemson boasts ACC series wins over Georgia Tech, Notre Dame, Wake Forest, Louisville, Cal, Stanford, and Pitt.
Out of all pitchers in the ACC, Aidan Knaak is 15th in the league in ERA. He had a 4.06 ERA to go along with 106 strikeouts, which was tops in the conference this season. Knaak finished the season 9-1, and in 15 games started, the Tigers went 13-2 in those games, with the only losses coming to Florida State and NC State. Knaak is undefeated on the season in home games and has a 2.40 ERA in such starts.
Offensively, Clemson has a balanced lineup, shown by their shared success this season. The Tigers have four players who rank in the top 32 in the ACC in RBIs this season.
Cam Cannarella is one of the top bats not only in the ACC but in the country. A dynamic outfielder, who ranks first on the Tigers in batting average, and has 74 hits on the season. He is also second on the team in runs scored, RBIs, and has a .473 on base percentage this year.
Clemson's bullpen is also very dangerous, as they have four guys with a sub-2.40 ERA, while all have thrown at least 26.1 innings pitched. Lucas Mahlstedt leads the group, a sidearm delivery, who has a 2.18 ERA in 45.1 innings pitched, with 59 strikeouts, and seven walks.
West Virginia
The Big 12 regular season champions had hoped they would have a chance at hosting for most of this season, but a bad finish to the 2025 campaign slowed down those chances for the Mountaineers.
West Virginia has had an explosive offense for much of the season, but that offense slowing down is what harmed them down the stretch. WVU had the third-most runs scored in the Big 12 this season, while they also had the fourth-fewest strikeouts in the league this season.
On the mound, WVU's 1-2 punch of Griffin Kirn and Jack Kartsonas helped them win a lot of series. Kartsonas and Kirn rank fifth and sixth in the Big 12 in ERA, respectively, while Kirn had the fifth-most strikeouts in the conference this season.
WVU finished with 41 wins, more than any other team has compiled in program history. WVU's RPI is at 28, while their strength of schedule sits at 99th in the country. WVU has two separate double-digit winning streaks this season, but lost seven of their last nine games to end the season.
Kyle West leads WVU offensively, as he leads WVU in batting with a .354 average, and 10 home runs this season. WVU has five guys with at least 35 RBIs this season, while they also have six guys hitting .301 or better this year. Jace Rinehart is a transfer from four-seed USC Upstate, and he has 50 RBIs this season which led the Mountaineers.
West Virginia's bullpen has been the sore spot recently. A once elite bullpen this year has fallen apart lately. Carson Estridge is the main piece on the back end of the bullpen for WVU and he has struggled recently. His status for the regional is unclear as he deals with an injury.
Kentucky
The Wildcats were sitting on the tournament bubble entering Selection Monday, but they were able to get in the field.
The Wildcats are 29-24 on the season, going 8-19 in their 27 Quad 1 games this year. Kentucky's RPI sits at 38 entering this weekend, and they hold series wins over Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas A&M during SEC play.
Kentucky's offense is last among the four teams in the regional in batting average, runs, home runs, and walks. They are first in triples and stolen bases, as they have 122 bags swiped on the season.
Cole Hage leads the way offensively for Kentucky, as he is hitting .317 on the season with 12 home runs and 39 RBIs. Shortstop Tyler Bell leads UK in RBIs with 46, but he also has the most strikeouts on the team with 55.
On the mound, Kentucky is deep with a lot of arms, with three guys who have double-digit starts this year. Ben Cleaver is the most notable out of the group with a 3.39 ERA in 77.0 innings pitched, and he also has 87 strikeouts.
Those three have pitched the bulk of the innings for the Wildcats, as only two other pitchers have thrown at least 20.0 innings this season besides those three.
Kentucky enters the weekend losers of four in a row, as they got swept by Vanderbilt and then lost to Oklahoma in the SEC Tournament.
USC Upstate
Out of all four seeds in the tournament this season, USC Upstate is one of the more dangerous of the group.
Upstate has an RPI of 87, and they are 9-1 in their last 10 games entering the NCAA Tournament. Champions of the Big South, they won 36 games this season, going 19-5 in conference play.
Offensively, they are as dangerous as any team in the regional. Out of the four teams, they are first among all teams in batting average, runs scored, doubles, and home runs. They have 99 home runs on the season, while the second-closest team in the regional, Clemson, has 71.
They are led by Scott Newman, who has 18 home runs this year, while Johnny Sweeney is right behind him with 17. Scott Campbell is hitting .400 this season, while he also has 54 RBIs. Upstate has six players with at least 52 RBIs this year, with Sweeney having the most with 81.
As a team, they have the second-most runs scored in the country this year and are tied for 14th in the country in home runs.
On the mound, it's a different story, though. Out of the four teams in the regional, the Spartans are last in ERA, walks allowed, runs allowed, home runs allowed, batting average against, and hits allowed.
Starting pitcher Amp Phillips has a 3.19 ERA on the season in 11 games started, throwing 62.0 total innings. In a recent start against Winthrop, he threw a complete game, allowing no runs on four hits.
In Upstate's last 10 games, they have used only a total of six relief pitchers, and only one has an ERA sub-3.00.
USC Upstate went 2-3 against power four competition this season, including a loss to Clemson, who they face in the first game of the tournament.
Opening Regional Dates
Game One: No. 3 Kentucky vs. No. 2 West Virginia – 12:00 p.m. Friday
Game Two: No. 4 USC Upstate vs. No. 1 Clemson — 6:00 p.m. Friday
Game Three: Loser Game One vs. Loser Game Two — 12:00 p.m. Saturday
Game Four: Winner Game One vs. Winner Game Two — 6:00 p.m. Saturday
Game Five: Winner Game Three vs. Loser Game Four — 1:00 p.m. Sunday
Game Six: Winner Game Four vs. Winner Game Five — 6:00 p.m. Sunday
Game Seven (If Necessary): Winner Game Four vs. Winner Game Five — Monday, Time TBD
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