What This WVU Baseball Team Meant to West Virginia Can't Be Measured
What This WVU Baseball Team Meant to West Virginia Can't Be Measured
Reaching Omaha was a part of making history, but the Mountaineers did more than just do something that hadn't been done before.Schuyler Callihan|
Over the last handful of years, West Virginia fans have sat through a bunch of disappointment. Whether it was the football team struggling to win games or the chaos that ensued in the men's basketball program that resulted in four head coaches in as many years, it's been a brutal stretch.
Perhaps things are about to turn the corner across the department as Rich Rodriguez and Ross Hodge enter their second year at the helm, but the excitement around WVU received a significant boost from this year's baseball team.
Today, Mountaineer Nation sits with a different type of disappointment — falling a couple of games short of playing for a national title. The state has been yearning for one of those in a major sport, and the opportunities to play for one don't come around all that often.
In my lifetime, the 2010 Final Four team was the only group. Yes, men's soccer reached the College Cup in 2023, and the women's soccer team played for it all in 2016, but this run that baseball had felt different, and it put a national spotlight on the university.
It reawakened a fan base, and really, an entire state. The scenes from the Morgantown Regional and then the super regional against Cal Poly will live on forever, and it showed how badly West Virginians want that elusive national championship.
To think that the baseball team, you know, the program that was nearly shut down a decade and a half ago, would be the one to breathe life back into this fan base would have been crazy to say just a handful of years ago.
The Mountaineers have had success in recent years, obviously, having won the Big 12 or at least a share of it twice and multiple super regional appearances, but this group in particular really caught on with the fan base, largely because of the way they played the game.
If there were still outs to play with, they would keep grinding out at-bats until they were told to go home, as evident in yesterday's late comeback attempt against North Carolina.
When a team at WVU closely resembles the work ethic and gritty nature of the people from the state, it's no wonder they become so popular and important to people's lives. The support for the program reached an all-time high this year and will now force athletic director Wren Baker to consider expanding the capacity of Kendrick Family Ballpark.
This was more than just a terrific baseball season. This run put a ton of eyes on the WVU brand, the fans, and the state as a whole.
Speaking of Wren Baker, he posted on Wednesday that there have been roughly 155 million views/impressions of the team and fans singing "Take Me Home, Country Roads." Couple that with being the most-watched game of the opening weekend at the College World Series, and you've got a ton of eyeballs on the Flying WV.
Our latest information indicates
— Wren Baker (@wrenbaker) June 18, 2026
there have 155 MILLION views & impressions of our fans/team singing Country Roads after wins this baseball postseason. Not only does that bring visibility to @WVUBaseball but to our beloved University & the great state of WV! Hoping a lot of… https://t.co/5tOXtrqh5z
Every one of the first six College World Series games drew over 1 million viewers on ESPN, making it the most-watched opening weekend ever.
— Jordan Moore (@iJordanMoore) June 17, 2026
The golden age of college baseball is happening right in front of us. pic.twitter.com/u4EbSd5grk
In a time when it felt like WVU athletics was spinning in mud, the baseball team provided hope that something special could still happen in Morgantown in this new era of college sports.
Looking ahead, the football team will have a great opportunity to begin the season 2-0 for the first time since 2018 with home games against Coastal Carolina and UT Martin before heading to Charlotte for a neutral-site game against Virginia. Sure, those games won't move the needle or put WVU football back on the map, but a strong start to the year will generate optimism, especially if they beat UVA and return to Morgantown with a 3-0 record for the Big 12 home opener against Oklahoma State.
The men's basketball team brought in its best high school recruiting class ever and complemented it with a strong group of transfers. If they play up to their potential, they'll be playing in March Madness, along with Mark Kellogg's squad, who is fresh off a Big 12 championship. And I think it's fair to say the women's basketball team kind of kick-started this whole thing with what they did in the conference tournament and then by hosting NCAA Tournament games.
What Steve Sabins and Co. just did was throw it into another gear all while expanding its own fan base. There have always been some diehard baseball fans, but they created more of those this season, helping bridge the gap from the end of basketball and the start of football. I mean, it's already mid-June and we've barely tapped into preseason football content. That's a good problem to have.
And lastly, this group set the standard. They kicked the door down and will always be remembered as the first team to reach Omaha. This isn't going to be the last time the Mountaineers make it to the College World Series. It's hard to get there, so there's no telling when they'll get back, but it's going to happen.
The right people are in place to lead it, invest in it, and support it. West Virginia is still in the infancy stages of eventually becoming a national power. Just like they had to knock on the Omaha door a couple of times before busting it down, they may have to go through that same process to eventually hoist a national championship trophy.
Published Jun 18, 2026
SCHUYLER CALLIHANSchuyler Callihan is the publisher of West Virginia On SI and has been a trusted source covering the Mountaineers since 2016. He is the host of Between The Eers, The Walk Thru Game Day Show, and In the Gun Podcast. The Wheeling, WV native moved to Charlotte, North Carolina in 2020 to cover the Charlotte Hornets and Carolina Panthers.
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Badenoch blasts 'moaning' female Labour MPs over Burnham jobs 'quota'
Kemi Badenoch has told Labour women to earn a job in Andy Burnham's Cabinet instead of demanding they are handed jobs because of their gender.
The Tory leader lashed out today amid reports that female MPs are demanding the de-facto new prime minister introduce a 50:50 gender split 'quota' in his government.
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister also complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts.
But in a scathing article in the Times today Mrs Badenoch told them to 'stop moaning' and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'.
'There are many, many reasons why you shouldn't have any Milibands in the cabinet,' she said.
'But complaining that the boys haven't given them the right jobs or that the boys are taking all the jobs, just shows that Labour's women still don't get it.'
The idea of quotas was also attacked by Baroness Jacqui Smith, Labour's Skills Minister.
Asked by Times Radio if Mr Burnham should reserve jobs for women, she said: 'No, I think what Andy Burnham should be doing is building the very best team around him to change this country.'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs
Amid reports that former foreign secretary David Miliband (above, right, in 2010) is being lined up to return to the role, possibly with his brother Ed as Chancellor, one female minister complained that Burnham could not have 'more Milibands than women' in the top posts
But Mrs Badenoch told them to pipe down and get chosen on merit instead of retreating into 'more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country'
A letter written by the Women's Parliamentary Labour Party and seen by the BBC has called on Mr Burnham to ensure a 50:50 split between men and women in government jobs after he succeeds Sir Keir Starmer.
'We are asking you to demonstrate this change from day one and address the toxicity and misogyny within our own party and government,' it said.
Labour has never had a female leader, while the Conservatives have had three, and Mrs Badenoch urged the government to follow its meritocratic example.
'If you run a meritocracy, then you do not have to worry about jobs for the boys,' she wrote.
'Every woman who is a Conservative MP, every woman who has ever won the leadership, has had to fight to get where she is.
'By contrast, Labour women are demanding guarantees from Burnham. But the truth is he doesn't have to give any guarantees.
'If none of Labour's women are prepared to get their hands dirty and challenge him for the leadership, their demands are toothless.'
'In fact, it's quite revealing that the women's parliamentary Labour Party has written to Burnham asking him to commit himself to at least 50 per cent female ministers.
'This has nothing to do with meritocracy. It is yet more of the failed identity politics that is holding back our country.'
