Wheeling, W. Va. – In their second week on the diamond, it was pitching that led the Wheeling University Baseball team to their second straight weekend win. On Thursday the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) released their weekly Regional Player of the Week honors and, for the second week in a row, a Cardinal was among the honorees. Senior starting pitcher Sebastian Khan was named the NCBWA Atlantic Region Pitcher of the Week, after leading the Cardinals to a 3-0 win in the opener against Virginia State.
It was the first time in his career that Kahn won regional player of the week honors, after throwing his first complete game of the season. He would take the ball in the opening game of the doubleheader and proceeded to throw 7.0 innings of two-hit ball against the Trojans. He struck out a career high nine batters, while walking just one, and faced just three batters over the minimum in the outing. He wouldn't face much traffic on the base paths, allowing multiple runners on just once in the game and he retired the side in order in five of his seven innings thrown. The outing started with a bang for Khanz who retired the first four batters he faced via the strikeout, and in total retired 10 straight Trojans to start the game. Even when the opposition started making contact, Khan was able to induce ground balls, with five of the seven batters he faced following the strikeouts hitting groundballs to an infielder.
It added to what has already been a strong season for Khan, who over two starts has posted a 1.64 ERA, spanning 11.0 total innings of work. Saturday's outing was his longest of the season so far, seeing him throw 92 pitches over 7.0 innings of work. Khan has yet to allow more than two earned runs in either start and has struck out nine batters each time he has taken the mound. As they enter the third week of the regular season, Khan holds the lowest ERA among pitchers with at least two starts on the season, while leading the conference with 18 strikeouts through 11.0 innings of work. Khan will look to continue to be a workhorse for the Cardinals as he works through the rest of the 2026 season.
Khan's NCBWA Pitcher of the Week award is the second Regional Player of the Week award in as many weeks. He is the second Wheeling Athletic Department Student-Athlete to win Regional Player of the Week awards this season, and is the second on the Wheeling Baseball team to be honored. Last week, senior Edward Mateo was named the NCBWA Hitter of the Week, for his efforts against USC Beaufort in the opening week of action.
Khan and the Wheeling University Baseball team return to action on Friday, February 20th, when they host Mansfield University at GoMart Ballpark, with first pitch at 6 PM.
