MORGANTOWN — It’s felt like West Virginia baseball’s last series was forever ago, with all the events that have transpired after the final game of the three-game series against Kennesaw State. After the third game, which was a loss, the Mountaineers were supposed to play a two-game series against Radford. The two-game series was canceled, and it was changed into a road game against Marshall on March. 4. WVU traded two home games for one road game, which was an interesting decision. But that game was canceled as well.

In the middle of the cancellations, WVU announced that All-Big 12 pitcher Chase Meyer was no longer with the program for an undisclosed reason. Many have speculations on what happened.

“Junior right-handed pitcher Chase Meyer is no longer with our baseball program,” head coach Steve Sabins said in a statement. “I want to thank Chase for his contributions the past three years to our team and wish him the best in his future endeavors.”

There’s been a lot going on off the field, while on the field, the 23rd-ranked Mountaineers are off to a blazing start. WVU has won all three of its series to start the season, sweeping the first, and scored an electric 19 runs against Ohio for its midweek game. WVU only has two losses at 8-2.

The Mountaineers have a real good shot of sweeping their next series this weekend if they block out and leave all the noise in the past. WVU faces Columbia for a three-game series starting on Friday, March 6, at 2 p.m., which will be the first series in Morgantown after the Radford series was canceled. All three games will be streamed on ESPN+.

The Lions are really struggling to start the season. Columbia has won just one of its first six games, which was against Kansas State by a run. The Lions are currently on a two-game losing streak.

Columbia doesn’t have the best bats and hasn’t scored double-digit runs in those six games. None of their hitters has a batting average over .400, and only three are over .300. The best hitter is close, Owen Estabrook, who is hitting .389. WVU has six hitting over .300 and two over .400. Shortstop Matt Iniech leads at .450.

On the mound, Sabins will most likely trot out his normal weekend three-game series starters of Dawson Montesa, Maxx Yehl and Chansen Cole. All three are coming off solid outings. Davin Hagen could get a look. He started for the midweek game against Ohio and hasn’t started since, so he could be due up.

The bullpen needs a major bounce-back. WVU jumped out to an early 6-0 lead in the final game over the Owls. Yehl was dealing and didn’t allow a run through five innings, leaving it to the relievers to close out the game. The bullpen proceeded to let up seven runs, costing the Mountaineers the game. Against Columbia’s offense, the bullpen shouldn’t have an issue.

Other than WVU’s starting pitching, the bats have produced a lot in the first 10 games of the season. The Mountaineers average 9.2 runs per game, which is tied for 28th in the country. Columbia’s pitching has allowed 54 runs in six games. After not scoring in the final innings against Kennesaw State, WVU should light up the Lions’ pitching staff.

This series against Columbia couldn’t have come at a better time, in a sense. In a week of chaos, WVU should throttle the Lions, putting the attention back on how good the 2026 team is. It might not wash away what happened this week, with the canceled games and losing one of its best pitchers, but it’ll put the team back on its trajectory of trying to get to Omaha.