WVU eyes more transfer gold as it mines the portal

Now it's on to 2025, and WVU has even more holes to fill on its pitching staff, but new head coach Steve Sabins, who was heavily involved in roster construction as an assistant on those Mountaineer teams, thinks the trend can continue.

"We have some really special transfers on the mound that I am really excited about," said Sabins, who is entering his tenth season on the Mountaineer staff, and his first as head coach. "We lost 75% of our innings to the draft last year, and we were able to replace some of that with some experienced, older pitchers."

As is often the case, experience is a valued commodity for players in the portal, and Sabins listed three hurlers who could contribute on the level of some of those past WVU imports.

"Griffin Kirn, a lefthander from Quincy, Illinois, is a senior this year, and has more innings pitched that 80-90% of our team combined. He's an extremely mature and experienced strikethrower, and if you can put guys like that out there, you have a chance to win.

"Reese Bassinger played for Tarleton State, and this is his senior year also.  He's one of those rubber-armed lower slot righthanders, and he pitched in five consecutive games on five consecutive days to win the WAC. He's another old school gritty throwback kind of guys.

"And then there's Jack Kartsonis. We took a chance on him, he was Kent State's Friday night starter and got hurt, and he became a reliever, and he had surgery this summer. He has com back healthy, and we hope

At Quincy University, Kirn was 22-8 over four seasons, striking out 259 batters in 215 innings. He capped his career there with an 8-1 record in 2024, fanning 100 while earning conference pitcher of the year honors.

Bassinger was 5-2 with a 3.06 ERA in his one season at Tarleton State, where he moved to after playing for two seasons at Odessa Junior College. He racked up 57 strikeouts against just 17 walks in 67.2 innings, and earned a spot on the all-WAC tournament team with his ironman performance in the postseason, which he capped with a four-strikeout, four-inning performance against Cal Baptist to nail down the title.

Kartsonas, a graduate student, was in the Kent State program for four seasons, missing the 2022 campaign due to injury. He was 7-7 with a 4.39 ERA while moving between starting and relief duties, but Sabins is encouraged with his work ethic and recovery.

That trio, plus a number of returnees, such as Gavin Van Kempen, Carson Estridge and Robby Porco, figure to compete for lead roles on WVU's staff, with most vying for a starting spot. Sabins has approximately eight pitchers fighting for the three weekend and one mid-week slots that define much of the season, and just as in past years the early non-conference portion of the schedule will see all of them get chances to make their cases -- as see if they can match the excellent results WVU has gotten from the portal in previous years.