MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — West Virginia will battle Kentucky in the regional round of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship for the second time in three seasons.

The Mountaineers, seeded second in the Clemson Regional, are scheduled to face the third-seeded Wildcats at noon Friday from Doug Kingsmore Stadium in a contest that will air on ESPNU.

It marks the third straight season West Virginia has qualified for a NCAA Regional — the second instance of that in program history and first in 61 years, with 1961-64 the other occurrence.

“At the end of the day, however you want to slice it, it’s about getting to this tournament,” first-year WVU head coach Steve Sabins said. “If you’re the 64th team in or first team in, you have an opportunity to do special things if you get your foot in the door.

“We’ve said from the very beginning our team has been built on opportunities. We have depth on our team and there’s been a lot of guys that fought for opportunities to play on a regular basis, and this is another opportunity for our team. If you get in the tournament, you have a shot, and that’s all you can ever ask for in this world.”

The Tigers, seeded 11th nationally among 16 host teams, take on No. 4 seed USC Upstate at 6 p.m. Friday.

The two winners and losers of Friday’s matchups will square off Saturday.

In 2023, WVU was a No. 2 seed in the Lexington Regional. After opening with a loss to Indiana and then defeating Ball State, the Mountaineers were eliminated by the Wildcats, 10-0.

Both WVU(41-14) and UK (29-24) enter regional play struggling of late. The Mountaineers have dropped seven of nine overall, while UK followed a four-game win streak with a four-game skid, though three of those setbacks were by a total of four runs against Vanderbilt, the top overall seed in the tournament.

“We have people on this team that lost to Kentucky two years ago, so I think there will actually be more confidence knowing who you’re going up against,” Sabins said. “You’ve been there and done that a little bit, so the instant reaction is we’re excited to be in a regional. You saw our kids’ reactions. That was incredible. That’s how it’s always been here and I’m so proud that it continued this year. When you’re watching that show, you see different teams and their personalities and characteristics and how they react to things. Our guys were fired up. They could’ve sent us to LSU, Oregon, Clemson or anywhere else and you probably would’ve seen a similar reaction. Those guys just like to play.”

West Virginia is among four teams in the Clemson Regional and will face Kentucky in NCAA opener.

Kentucky, with an RPI of 38, is one of 13 teams in the field from the Southeastern Conference, which produced eight of the top 16 host teams. The Mountaineers, with an RPI of 28, are one of eight Big 12 teams in the field, though the league does not have a host team. Arizona State, Kansas State and Oklahoma State join USC as the last four at large teams in the field.

“It’s a larger league now with 14 members playing baseball, but over half of our league getting a regional is certainly a great sign for the Big 12,” Sabins said.

A year ago, in Randy Mazey’s final season as head coach, the Mountaineers had a much further trip than in 2023 and 2025 for the opening round as a No. 3 seed in the Tucson Regional. Despite never facing Arizona, WVU won three of three regional round games to qualify for its first Super Regional in program history, where the Mountaineers would suffer two competitive losses at North Carolina.

“Last year, when they sent us to Arizona, the kids were going bonkers and they were fired up,” Sabins said. “We’re like, ‘the three-hour time change, across the country travel, maybe not what’s best.’ But maybe the kids know something we don’t, because we went and won that regional.”

The Mountaineers entered regional play in 2024 off two losses in the Big 12 Championship. This year, as the top seed and Big 12 regular season champion, WVU topped Cincinnati, before being eliminated in a semifinal Friday against Arizona, which went on win the event.

“Winning that game against Cincinnati gave us a little juice, because we were 0-6 in that tournament before winning a game at Globe Life [Field],” Sabins said. “I thought we needed to win a game. Truthfully, we didn’t need to win a game to make the NCAA Tournament. As a team, we needed to win a game because we hadn’t tasted that in a while. We got so used to winning, it became kind of commonplace that maybe we forgot how hard it is and how humbling it is to lose.”

Despite the late-season struggles, WVU was considered safely in the NCAA Field, further evidenced by their position as an expected No. 2 seed.

Still, with players, coaches and fans gathered at The Goat Country Roads Pub on Monday afternoon for the selection show, the Mountaineers were not announced until the 14th of the 16 regionals.

“It’s always pretty nail-biting no matter what,” said Kyle West, who leads WVU with 10 home runs and a .500 on-base percentage. “I feel like our resume was good enough to get in. Obviously it was. Knowing you’re going to get in and not knowing where you’re going is probably the most intriguing part of it all, but we’re in a great spot to do some cool things.”