Wheeling, W. Va. - In less than a month, the Wheeling University Baseball team will be taking the field in nearby California, Pennsylvania when they take on California University of Pennsylvania on February 16th. Before the season gets underway, the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) honored some of the best players across the region on Tuesday with the release of their Preseason All-Region teams. Cardinal third baseman Braden Killens was among the honorees, being named an Honorable Mention All-Region Player at Third Base.
Killens had a historic season offensively for the Cardinals in 2023, setting the new single-season record for both home runs (12) and RBI (54). He also showed a strong ability to get on base, leading all qualified players with a .351 batting average, .682 slugging percentage, and a .436 on-base percentage. Of his 51 hits during the course of the season, more than half of those were extra base hits as he finished with 10 doubles, two triples, and 12 home runs for a total of 24 extra-base hits. Defensively, Killens split time for the Cardinals between third base and second base and finished with an .824 fielding percentage while finishing with 27 put outs and 57 assists.
Once his team clinched the #2 seed in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division, Killens took his game to the next level in the MEC Tournament. Across the team's three postseason games, Killens would combine to hit .307 with two home runs and three RBI across 13 at-bats. His biggest showing came when his team's fate was on the line in the elimination game against West Liberty. He finished the day 2-4 with a home run and two RBI, with his biggest swing coming in a tie game in the bottom of the sixth. After teammate Spencer Craig walked to start the inning, Killens would lift a two-run home rn over the left center field wall to give the Cardinals a 5-3 victory. The team would eventually go on to win by that same score to advance to the semifinal round before their season ended.
Killens and the Wheeling University Baseball team begin the 2024 season on Friday, February 16th, when they hit the road to face CAL-U with first pitch scheduled for 1 PM.
