GRANVILLE, W.Va. — From his success over three seasons at USC Upstate and experience playing for the Wareham Gatemen of the Cape Cod League last summer, Jace Rinehart expected a lot of himself entering his first season at West Virginia.
“I know it’s a different level here, but we played this level of competition at USC Upstate,” Rinehart said. “Maybe not in conference play, but in our midweeks, it was an hour drive to Clemson, we played South Carolina and Georgia. We competed with those teams and beat them a lot. I knew it was a transition I could make.”
Rinehart sought a new school after former USC Upstate head coach Mike McGuire left for the same title at Winthrop.
The opportunity to return home and play for a power conference program came about for Rinehart, a two-time second-team all-Big South Conference selection who starred at North Marion High School and led the Huskies to a Class AA runner-up finish in 2021 at the program’s first state tournament appearance.
At USC Upstate, Rinehart hit .345 with 24 home runs, 31 doubles and 99 RBI. His most impressive campaign was in 2024, when Rinehart led the league with 94 hits, 22 doubles and 173 total bases, while adding 17 home runs and driving in 59 to go with a .366 batting average.
“It was pretty easy to make the decision to come here, be home, be with my family and still get to play the highest level of college baseball there is,” Rinehart said. “Having that experience and confidence knowing that I’d played at that level before helped a lot in the transition.”
Things could hardly be working out better for Rinehart to this point in his senior season. The Mannington native is a mainstay in the middle of the battling lineup and leads the Mountaineers with six home runs, 33 RBI and 12 doubles. Rinehart’s .354 batting average is third on the team, and the left fielder is fresh off a strong weekend in which he was 5-for-12 with a home run, two doubles, four RBIs and three runs in WVU’s three-game sweep of Utah.
Rinehart has played in 28 of WVU’s 31 contests, started 25 and logged an official at bat in 26, all but four of which he has at least one hit in.
Rinehart blasted home runs in consecutive non-conference matchups with Queens and Kennesaw State and has connected for four in Big 12 play — one each against Oklahoma State, Arizona, BYU and the Utes.
“It’s all about self-confidence and believing in yourself,” Rinehart said. “That’s the biggest thing to have success, and knowing your teammates are there with you supporting you no matter what and they’re going to be with you and along the ride.”
Rinehart spent his first two seasons with the Spartans playing catcher before transitioning to the outfield, which has continued at WVU. He admits work remains to be at the level he aspires to defensively.
“My defense is the biggest thing I’m trying to progress,” Rinehart said. “I transitioned to an outfielder my junior year of college, so it’s still something I’m learning the odds and ends of and really trying to hone in on my defensive skills.”
In Rinehart’s three seasons at USC Upstate, the Spartans had a winning record every year and never won fewer than 35 games in any season. He hopes to play in a NCAA Regional for the first time in his career later this year, and with the Mountaineers having won seven in a row to improve to 27-4 in Steve Sabins’ first season as head coach, Rinehart appears well on his way to doing exactly that.
In the meantime, Rinehart is often able to showcase his skill in front of a large contingent of family and friends from nearby.
“I bring in about 15 family members every night and maybe 10 to 15 other people that come watch that know me,” he said. “It’s really awesome to have that support.”
Earlier this week in an 11-1 win against Pitt, Rinehart got his first taste of playing in a Backyard Brawl and contributed a double, while driving in a run and scoring two. He did so before a WVU single-game record crowd of 4,629,
“It was awesome. You can’t replicate this fan base, and the lifestyle and support that you have here at West Virginia,” Rinehart said. “It’s a whole different level. People talk about good fan bases, but it’s truly different here. There’s people that care about you and know you personally. Hearing the support of everyone, it feels like a football game out there.”