West Virginia beat TCU 6-4 in its regular-season finale, finishing the regular season 37-13 overall and a program-record 21 conference wins to claim the No. 2 seed in the Big 12 Conference Tournament, veteran outfielder Brodie Kresser said.
The numbers back Kresser’s urgency: WVU won eight of its last nine Big 12 games, finished 21-9 in league play and lost only two series all season while recording multiple sweeps in a Power 4 league — including a road sweep of Kansas — en route to a second-place league finish and a No. 2 seed in the tournament in Surprise, Arizona. The Mountaineers will begin play in the quarterfinal round on Thursday under a single-elimination format the Big 12 switched to in 2025.
That run also means West Virginia will be in the NCAA Tournament for a fourth consecutive season and arrives with recent postseason pedigree: the program has advanced to Super Regional play in each of the last two years. The roster includes three well-regarded arms on the pitching staff — Maxx Yehl, Chansen Cole and Ian Korn — and the team’s consistency all season has been the foundation of its results.
Still, the success has produced a public question: should this season’s resume be enough to host a regional? Local athletic director Steve Sabins did not mince words. "I find it really hard to believe that one of the top three conferences in the country with no doubt, and a team that set a program record for conference wins with 21, a team that finishes second in the league, a team that has the best pitcher in one of the top three leagues in the country, is not hosting," Sabins said. "We have won every series but two and have multiple sweeps in a Power 4 league that is well-respected with a good strength of schedule and the team that won the league [Kansas], we swept on the road. If that is not a hosting resume, I have no idea what is. We have absolutely earned that, up to this point. This place should be rocking, sold out, packed and be one of the best venues in the country."
Sabins framed the debate around the new tournament and regional structure. He argued the top six teams in the conference should generally be safe to host regionals under the current setup and called the format one that rewards regular-season performance: "But the top six teams in this format in our league should be regional-bound every year. It really plays up to the teams that play well in the regular season, which I am OK with. I think it is kind of a fair deal." He also warned of the penalty for teams forced into long, hot play-away runs: "It is really nice if you are in the top six and you are guaranteed a regional and you should be hosting. So for us, it is a great situation because if you are going to travel across the country, if you were to lose a game, then you come back and get ready for a regional. You have time to recover and play. If you are one of those teams fighting for your life and you have to win five games in over 100-degree weather, you are basically smoked. You are getting the raw end of the deal a little bit, in my opinion."
Kresser, who has been part of a team that won nearly every series this season, voiced the players’ perspective on where this finishes and what comes next: "I think it would be crazy," he said when asked about hosting. "I think the boys would be pretty fired up to have that. It would be sweet. But wherever we go, we’re going to play hard, keep the same approach. We’re used to it." He stressed focus over fanfare: "Three games to win it, so hopefully we can treat it like a normal weekend series."
The Mountaineers close the regular season with clear credentials — record-setting conference wins, league runner-up status, depth on the mound and streaks that included multiple sweeps and an 8-1 finish in Big 12 play — but whether that will translate into hosting duties in the NCAA Tournament remains unresolved. For now, Kresser and his teammates are turning from the finish line to the next short sprint: a one-and-done conference tournament quarterfinal on Thursday and the prospect of a fourth straight trip to the NCAA Tournament to chase another Super Regional run.
