Wheeling, W. Va. - After making the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament in back-to-back years, the Wheeling University Baseball team entered 2025 beginning a new era. With only three of their starting eight position players, and two of their four starting pitchers returning, the Cardinals would face a high level of turnover on the field. The Cardinals battled throughout the year and grew on the diamond as they look to build a core to get back to the MEC Tournament in 2026 and beyond.
As they entered the season, the Cardinals had the goal of making the NCAA tournament for the first time in program history. Because of this, they set their schedule up to face nearly all Atlantic Regional opponents during the season. They started things strong, taking three out of four from Pitt-Johnstown in their opening weekend, However, they went 1-3 in each of the next two weekends and finished the preseason non-conference schedule at 5-10. They were bitten by the injury bug during that stretch, and had the defending MEC Champion University of Charleston ahead of them. The Cardinals would go 1-3 in the conference opening weekend and added another 1-3 effort when they returned home to face West Virginia Wesleyan and Glenville State. They would wrap up their MEC South schedule on the road at Concord and Glenville State, and fell to 2-10 looking to rebound in their MEC North Schedule.
After a four-game set with Salem to open the month of April at the JB Chambers I-470 Complex, the Cardinals hit the road to face Frostburg State, dropping all four games. They gained some momentum as they returned home, earning a 5-4 walk-off win over Bethany and carried that momentum into their weekend set with Fairmont State. They earned a walk-off 10-9 win to get the series started and followed it with a 9-6 in to complete their first MEC sweep. The Cardinals would get their first weekend win since the opening weekend, taking two of the three games in a rain shortened series. They rounded out their divisional schedule being swept by Point Park and taking one game of a three-game rain-shortened series with West Liberty to round out the regular season. As they continue to build the roster and look to get back to postseason play for the 2026 season.
The starting pitchers led the way for the Cardinals throughout the season, and it was Sebastian Khan who embraced the role. Khan, who was a reliever during the 2024 season, led the Cardinals with a 4.17 ERA over 41.0 innings of work. He would strikeout 43 batters over the 41.0 innings for the top strikeout/nine inning ratio on the team. He was one of two All-MEC honorees for the team, earning Honorable Mention All-MEC honors for his work on the mound. His best start of the season would come against Davis & Elkins on March 23rd. He would throw 7.0 innings of two hit ball to help the Cardinals pick up their lone win of the weekend. Khan led a strong group of starters for the team as they battled throughout the season.
On the offensive end, it was Brett Johnson who earned the other All-MEC honor for the team. Like Khan, Johnson was also named Honorable Mention All-MEC, leading the Cardinals with a .305 batting average. He added one home run, 15 RBI, and 11 extra base hits across 131 at-bats as the Cardinal's leadoff hitter. He finished the season with 10 extra-base hits, with his best performance coming in a 3-5 effort with two RBI against Fairmont State on April 18th. Sitting behind him was Christian Boyles, who led the team with five triples and 23 RBI, while sitting third with four home runs. Boyles was one of three Cardinals to finish over the .290 mark for the season, hitting .294 across 126 at-bats during the season.
The Wheeling University Baseball team looks to continue their growth this offseason as they fight to get back to the MEC Tournament in 2026.
