Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Baseball team (17-6, 6-2) are riding high after a 4-0 weekend down in Buckhannon and Elkins, West Virginia. The Cardinals were rewarded as the Mountain East Conference (MEC) announced their weekly awards on Monday with Wheeling sweeping the honors. Senior outfielder Gavin Millians was named the MEC's Co-Hitter of the Week, while Sebastian Khan was named the conference's Pitcher of the Week.
Both players would play vital roles in the team's weekend sweep of West Virginia Wesleyan and Davis & Elkins as the Cardinals improved their conference record to 6-2. Gavin Millians played a factor in all four games for the Cardinals, finishing the weekend 6-12 (.500) with 11 RBI and a run scored. The senior finished the weekend with at least two RBI in each of the four games, accounting for 12 total runs on the weekend. Sebastian Khan would get the game one start for the Cardinals and set the tone on the mound. He would end up throwing a complete game effort, allowing three runs, one earned, while walking one and striking out nine. He tied his career high with nine strikeouts in the game, hitting the mark for the third time this season. It marked the fourth time in seven starts that Khan has allowed one earned run or fewer in a game this season.
Millians is taking home his first MEC Player of the Week award of the season after the breakout weekend. It started right away with his top game in the opener against West Virginia Wesleyan. The senior would finish 2-4 with four RBI on the night, accounting for more than half of the Cardinal offense. He would bring home two runs on a single in the top of the first and add RBIs in both the fifth and seventh innings. He would take advantage of a Bobcat error in the top of the 7th for his final RBI of the night. It marked the third straight game where Millians had a seventh inning RBI as he led Wheeling to a 7-3 victory. He would add a duplicate 2-4 effort in game two, finishing with two RBI to round out Saturday. He opened the series against Davis & Elkins with a 1-3 effort, bringing home three RBI, and finished out the weekend with a pinch hit two run single in the finale to round out his effort.
Khan is earning his second Pitcher of the Week Award of the season after leading the Cardinals in game one. He would retire the first six batters he faced, before allowing his first base runner in the bottom of the third. The Bobcats would strike for all three runs in that third inning, before Khan locked them down the rest of the night. After the Cardinals got him the lead in the top of the seventh, Khan would come back in the bottom of the inning and retired the side 1-2-3 to close out the win for the Cardinals. The effort helped lower Khan's season ERA to 1.93, giving him the lowest ERA among starters in the conference. It was his second complete game effort of the season as he eclipse last year's innings mark already. He looks to continue leading the rotation throughout the MEC schedule as the Cardinals fight for a spot in the MEC Tournament.
With Millians and Khan each taking home honors, the Wheeling Athletics department has now had 39 student-athletes earn Conference Player of the Week honors this season. It is the third and fifth time this season that the Wheeling Baseball team has been honored, with Khan winning his second award and Millians joining teammates Edward Mateo and Luke Meyer in being honored. Two weeks ago, Jovie Noack would be honored as the Women's Lacrosse Offensive Player of the Week.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Saturday, March 28th, when they take on Concord at 1 PM.
