Wheeling, W. Va. - For the first two weeks of the season, the Wheeling University Baseball team (4-1, 0-0) has traveled down south to take advantage of the warmer weather. On Friday, the Cardinals will continue their trip to the bottom of West Virginia, only this time they will be serving as the home team. Wheeling heads to GoMart Ballpark in Charleston, West Virginia, where they play their first three-game home series of the season against Mansfield University, with game one on Friday at 6 PM, followed by a Saturday doubleheader beginning at 2 PM.
Rain effected the Cardinal's trip a week ago as they traveled down to Petersburg, Virginia to take on Virginia State. It would be a rain-shortened two-game series, with the Cardinals earning their first doubleheader sweep of the season. It was a performance backed by strong starting pitching, as the Cardinals shutout the Trojans in back-to-back outings to improve to 4-1 on the season. In game one, the Cardinals got on the board early in the top of the first, and rode their pitching the rest of the way. Virginia State would not have their first base runner until the bottom of the fourth and had multiple runners on base only one time in the game. The Cardinals would tack on two insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, and walked away with a 3-0 victory. It was a similar script in game two, with the Cardinals getting an early run and riding their starting pitching success. This time, the Cardinals would come away with a 4-0 win, completing the sweep of the day.
Leading the starting pitching effort for the Cardinals was senior Sebastian Khan, who was honored on both the conference and regional levels. The senior threw 7.0 innings of work, allowing just two hits, while walking one and tying his career-high with nine strikeouts in the effort. He didn't allow his first base runner until the bottom of the fourth, and only faced three batters over the minimum. The effort brought his strikeout total to 18 through two starts, placing him atop the conference through two weeks of the season. For his efforts, Khan was named both the Mountain East Conference (MEC) and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Pitcher of the Week for his performance. He currently holds the lowest ERA among MEC pitchers with at least two starts and will play a big role in the Cardinals being able to grab a weekend win.
In game two, it was another dominant starting pitching performance that led the way, with Dom Carlson taking the mound. The redshirt sophomore followed Khan's performance with 5.0 hitless innings allowing just two walks and a hit batsmen while striking out five batters. Like Khan, Carlson had early success retiring the first seven batters he faced, and lowered his season ERA to 2.08 across 8.2 innings of work. On the offensive side, it was senior outfielder Gavin Millians leading the effort, finishing 3-8 with a double and three RBI across the doubleheader. His biggest performance would come in game two, where he went 2-4 with a two-RBI single that helped the Cardinals seal the deal on the 4-0 game two win.
Friday will mark the start of the second straight regional weekend for the Cardinals, as they get set to take on the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) East Division's Mansfield. They earned their first regional weekend win over Virginia State, and are looking to string together back-to-back regional weekend wins for the first time since the 2024 season. Head Coach Ryan Lewicki is looking for his team to make the most of their opportunities in regional play, as they battle towards their goal of earning a bid for the NCAA DII Baseball Tournament. Their 4-1 record is the best five-game start in program history and, while the Cardinals are not getting too excited early on, the team is looking to build off this success and take things one weekend at a time.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Mountaineers will be meeting for the first time in program history on Friday when they meet at GoMart Ballpark. Mansfield opened their season last week with a four-game set against Glenville State, and went 1-3 through their first four games. During the 2025 season, the Mountaineers finished 14-31 overall and 8-20 in PSAC play, including a 3-4 record against MEC opponents. The Cardinals look to start the series out with a win as they open the 2026 home schedule.
The Details
First pitch for the opener of the three-day weekend series is scheduled for 6 PM inside GoMart Ballpark in Charleston, West Virginia. You can follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
