MORGANTOWN — The Morgantown Regional of the NCAA tournament will feature three top 150-ranked prospects for the 2026 MLB amateur draft in July, including one that WVU is already familiar with.
That would be Kentucky’s Tyler Bell, a 6-foot-1 sophomore shortstop, who is eligible for the 2026 draft due to him turning 21-years old prior to the draft. Bell is ranked as the 23rd overall prospect after batting .352 with seven home runs, 27 RBIs and 10 stolen bases this season. He missed 15 games this season with a shoulder injury.
Bell was drafted 66th overall in 2024 coming out of high school, but opted to enroll at Kentucky instead.
In last season’s NCAA tournament, Bell faced WVU two times in the Clemson Regional, but he combined to go 0 for 8 with three walks.
Wake Forest first baseman Kade Lewis is ranked as the 107th top prospect and Demon Deacons infielder Dalton Wentz is ranked No. 135.
Lewis batted .362 with 13 home runs and 55 RBIs this season, while Wentz batted .295 with 17 home runs and 51 RBIs.
In terms of the 2027 draft, West Virginia’s Gavin Kelly is ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect, according to Baseball America and Wake Forest pitcher Chris Levonas is ranked as the No. 4 overall prospect and No. 2 collegiate pitcher.
Kelly enters the NCAA tournament with a .376 batting average, 13 home runs and 48 RBIs.
Levonas, a 6-1 righty, is 10-3 on the season with a 2.90 ERA and has 110 strikeouts in 68 innings pitched.
Runs and more runs
Under head coach Tom Walter, Wake Forest has appeared in seven NCAA tournaments, two super regionals and played in the 2023 College World Series.
His take on how to win a regional:
“You’ve got to swing the bats,” Walter said. “You’ve got to have your offense firing on all cylinders. You’re not going to go out there and win three 2-1 games in a regional. That’s just hard to do.”
With that in mind, the four teams in the Morgantown Regional are all comparative in runs scored per game. Wake Forest leads the way, averaging 7.9 runs per game, while West Virginia averages 7.3 runs. Both Binghamton and Kentucky score 7.1 per game.
In terms of hitting home runs, Wake Forest nearly doubles the other three teams with 90 on the season. Kentucky has 55, Binghamton 48 and WVU has 42 homers heading into the NCAAs.
The Mountaineers enter as the stingiest team in runs allowed, at 4.4 per game. Wake Forest allows 4.8, while Kentucky gives up 5.8 and Binghamton gives up 6.4 per game.
Injury update
Kentucky freshman outfielder Braxton Van Cleave suffered a head injury on May 15, after colliding with Arkansas second baseman Nolan Souza while running the bases.
Van Cleave had to exit the game on a stretcher and hasn’t played since.
Kentucky head coach Nick Mingione said there is an opportunity for Van Cleave to be back in action during the NCAA tournament.
“Braxton had surgery last week, and the doctors said they felt like he would be available this weekend,” Mingione said. “So, we’ll see.”
Van Cleave has played in 25 games this season and has five home runs and 21 RBIs.
