Jackson Wolf Could Turn Into West Virginia's Ace in 2021

The Mountaineers will look to Jackson Wolf to lead the team's pitching staff this spring.

Coming into the 2021 college baseball season, the No. 14 West Virginia Mountaineers were expecting to have one of the best one-two punches in not only the Big 12 Conference but in the country on the mound with Ryan Bergert and lefty Jackson Wolf.

Unfortunately, Bergert had surgery done in December and will miss the entire season, head coach Randy Mazey announced Thursday morning. 

With Bergert now out, it will be even more important that Jackson Wolf elevate his game to the next level which is something that he has done each year in the program. 

"Wolf has matured a lot," Mazey said of Wolf. "He was kind of always in the shadow of Alek Manoah his whole career. Manoah got the limelight, Wolf just needed to get more mature as that was happening and get bigger and stronger. Once Manoah left, I think Jackson took it upon himself to try and be the guy on this staff. He started off really good last year, and I think he won three or four games early on and pitched really well."

As a freshman in 2018, Wolf was seldomly used, pitching in just 24.1 innings in 17 appearances. The big lefty got hit around a little bit allowing two homers, an opponents' batting average of .218, and 11 earned runs which equates to an ERA over four. It's not surprising to see a freshman come in and have some struggles, that's the norm in college baseball, especially in a conference like the Big 12.

In his first year as a full-time starter in the rotation, Wolf had a lot of ups and downs and finished the season with a 2-4 record, allowing 14 home runs, and 40 earned runs in 69.2 innings of work. Although he wasn't having the success he or the coaching staff had hoped for, you could see his potential in flashes. 

In 2020, Wolf turned the corner and really started to find some consistency by pounding the strike zone, having more movement on his breaking ball, and working more efficiently which allowed him to go deeper in games. In his four starts, he struck out 27 compared to walking just five, while also seeing the opponents' batting average dip all the way down to .157.

For West Virginia to have sustained success in 2021, they will need Wolf to, once again, take that next step in development. According to Randy Mazey, he believes the best is yet to come from the southpaw.

"I actually think he's better right now than he was last year. We've made a few more adjustments with him, and he's pitching really well right now, so I'm expecting him to have a pretty good year."

You can follow us for future coverage by clicking "Follow" on the page's top righthand corner. Also, be sure to like us on Facebook & Twitter:

Facebook - @WVUonSI

Twitter - @SI_WVU and Schuyler Callihan at @Callihan_.