On Monday, the transfer portal market in college baseball continued to heat up with two big entries into the portal from Conference USA and the Sun Belt.
Ryan Wideman, OF, Western Kentucky Hilltoppers – Western Kentucky’s Ryan Wideman can make the case to be one of the best hitters now in the portal. This season with the Hilltoppers, he had a .398 batting average, a .466 on-base percentage, and 97 hits.
The phenomenal season led to Wideman being named C-USA Conference Player of the Year.
He is sure to be a big target for major power conference programs looking to add talent.
Wideman helped lead Western Kentucky to the NCAA Tournament this season. It was the Hilltoppers’ first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2009.
Tyler Lichtenberger, SS, Appalachian State Mountaineers – Tyler Lichtenberger had a fabulous freshman season for Appalachian State. He had a .341 batting average and a .410 on-base percentage. He had 70 total hits this season, 13 of which were doubles.
The great year Lichtenberger had led to him winning the Sun Belt Freshman of the Year award. He was also the only freshman to be first-team All-Sun Belt.
The Boca Raton, Fla. native, being as young as he is, makes him a good target for bigger, power conference teams to look at.
This season, he was Appalachian State’s leading hitter, which made him the catalyst to the Mountaineers’ offense. It was an offense that ranked third in the Sun Belt, only behind Coastal Carolina and Southern Miss.
Photo: WKU center fielder Ryan Wideman (33)warms up before an NCAA baseball game between Western Kentucky University and Eastern Kentucky University on Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2025, in Bowling Green, Ky. WKU beat EKU 11-3. (AP Photo/James Kenney)
