West Virginia
No. 12 West Virginia Travels to Kansas State
Manhattan, KS – No. 12 West Virginia will wrap up its Big 12 Conference road schedule this weekend at Kansas State for a three-game series and aim to capture its second conference title in three years, while the Wildcats (28-20, 14-10) look to bolster their postseason resume.
The Mountaineers (39-8) fell to rival Pitt Tuesday night, marking the third midweek loss to a regional rival (Penn State, Marshall, Pitt) in as many weeks. Nonetheless, WVU has won six straight Big 12 series and sit atop the conference standings with an 18-4 league record with a two and half game lead over Arizona State, and a 3.5 game advantage of Kansas, Arizona, and TCU.
With six Big 12 games remaining, West Virginia needs three wins to solidify its first outright regular season championship. In addition, with every Arizona State loss, the win total shrinks. The Sun Devils host Houston this weekend.
West Virginia is tied for second in the Big 12 with a .305 team batting average and ranks third in RBI (169) and runs (180) during conference action. Eight Mountaineers are batting over .300 during league play. Junior Sam White leads the way with a .362 batting average with five doubles, a home run and 15 RBI.
On the season, White is batting a team-leading .367. Meanwhile, Jace Rinehart leads the team with 46 RBI and is tied with seniors Grant Hussey and Kyle West and junior Logan Suave for a team-high seven home runs – Six of Sauve’s seven home runs have come against Big 12 clubs.
The steady arm of West Virginia senior Griffin Kirn (4-1, 3.59 ERA, 70 K) will start in game one. The lefty is 1-1 in Big 12 games with 48 strikeouts to 12 walks.
Chase Meyer (8-2) is set to make his third start of the season in game two. The sophomore right-hander has been fierce on the mound this season, owning a 2.31 ERA with 51 strikeouts in primarily a reliever role. He’s made two previous starts this season, both during midweek contests with the most recent start coming against Pitt Wednesday night. He tossed two innings and recorded two strikeouts and allowed one hit. In his first start of the season against Towson in March, he threw two hitless innings with three Ks.
Right-hander Jack Kartsonas (6-1, 1.84 ERA, 51 K) is scheduled to start the series finale. The senior has worked his way back from an offseason surgery and into the weekend rotation. He holds a 1.03 ERA with 24 strikeouts in his last four starts.
Kansas State is expected to counter with lefty Jacob Frost (1-3, 4.86 ERA. 58 K) in the series opener. The senior had a rough outing last week against BYU, giving up three runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. In his previous two starts. He registered 18 strikeouts, including a career-high 10 Ks against rival Kansas, in 13.2 innings of work.
Senior Michael Quevedo (6-1, 5.27 ERA, 66 K) is slated for game two. The lefty matched a career-high 10 strikeouts to collect his sixth win of the season against BYU.
Left-hander Lincoln Sheffield (6-4, 5.64 ERA, 59 K) is scheduled for game three. The junior tossed seven innings with a season-high eight strikeouts in his Big 12 debut against Utah in the conference series opener.
The Wildcats started its Big 12 slate 8-1 but dropped six straight (Oklahoma State, Kansas) before taking the last two series against Houston and BYU.
Kansas State ranks second in the league with 86 home runs, third in slugging percentage (.506) and fourth in runs (367).
Senior Keegan O’Conner leads the team at the plate with a .338 batting average and following a record-tying three home runs, upping his total to a team-best 15 home runs and for his efforts, was named the Big 12 Newcomer of the Week.
Maximus Martin has raked in a team-high 53 RBI, which ranks third in the league, and is hitting .337 on the season and is tied with senior Seth Dardar for a team-high 15 doubles.
West Virginia leads the all-time series 2015.
The series opens Friday evening at 7:00 p.m. EST, game two is slated for Saturday at 2:00 p.m. EST and the series finale is scheduled for Sunday at 2:00 p.m. EST.
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WHEELING, W.Va. — The West Virginia First Foundation visited the Wheeling Police Department to commend its efforts in addressing the area’s mental health and opioid crisis.
Wheeling Police Chief Shawn Schwertfeger presented to the WVFF board, highlighting the department’s progress.
Schwertfeger attributed a 14% decrease in Group A crimes from 2024 to 2025 to the department’s crisis intervention program.
“Just another great partnership,” he said. “More collaboration in this area that we are very proud of and we want to keep the momentum going,.”
WVFF Executive Director Jonathan Board praised the program’s success.
“This in particular, the CIT program, that isn’t just in the ether, but is showing success – actual scientific success about de-escalation, about bringing together services providers and to boots on the ground and first responders, this is vitally important to not only this region but the entire state,” Board said.
The visit was part of WVFF’s ‘Hold the Line’ tour across the state.
Now that you know about West Virginia’s 2026 recruiting class, I figured it’d be a good time to give a little insight into those who were once committed to the Mountaineers and landed elsewhere.
What happened, and where did they go?
QB Brodie McWhorter (Mississippi State)
McWhorter committed to Neal Brown and his coaching staff, but reopened his recruitment when the coaching change was made. Rich Rodriguez did recruit him at the beginning, holding several conversations with him before backing off and pursuing Jyron Hughley and Legend Bey. Hughley committed, Bey committed to Ohio State (signed with Tennessee), while WVU added two more quarterbacks in Wyatt Brown and John Johnson III.
RB Jett Walker (Texas)
Walker fit the bill for what Rodriguez wanted in the backfield. A big, physical presence who could absorb contact and hammer it in between the tackles. With multiple backs committed and feeling good about a few others, WVU didn’t feel pressed to hold onto him. Walker flipped to Minnesota and then flipped to Texas just three weeks later
WR Jeffar Jean-Noel (Georgia Tech)
Jean-Noel was the second recruit to commit to Rodriguez in the 2026 class, but reopened his recruitment in mid-April. He then considered Purdue, Pitt, Kentucky, UCF, and Florida State before landing at Georgia Tech.
OL Justyn Lyles (Marshall)
The Mountaineers had a number of offensive line commits, and with the late additions of Kevin Brown and Aidan Woods, and their chances of securing Jonas Muya, Lyles took a visit to Marshall and flipped his commitment.
LB Caleb Gordon (North Carolina)
Gordon’s commitment to WVU was very brief. As a matter of fact, it was the shortest of the bunch, announcing his pledge on November 24th and then flipping to NC State on the first day of the early signing period (December 3rd).
LB Daiveon Taylor (Kent State)
Taylor was the first commit in the class; however, it was so early that he was committed to Neal Brown’s staff, announcing his decision in April of 2024. He backed off that pledge the very day Brown was fired (December 1st) and eventually signed with Kent State.
CB Emari Peterson (unsigned)
Peterson decommitted from WVU just days before signing day, likely due to the Mountaineers zeroing in on a pair of JUCO corners in Rayshawn Reynolds and Da’Mun Allen. He will sign in February and currently has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bowling Green, Charlotte, Cincinnati, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, FIU, Georgia State, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kentucky, Liberty, LSU, South Florida, Southern Miss, Texas A&M, Toledo, Wake Forest, and a few others.
S Aaron Edwards (committed to Tulsa)
West Virginia chose to part ways with Edwards and ultimately replaced his spot with fellow JUCO safety Da’Mare Williams.
S Jaylon Jones (undecided)
Jones decommitted in late October and did not sign during the early signing period. He will likely choose between Central Michigan, Hawai’i, Sam Houston, Stephen F. Austin, and Texas State.
S Taj Powell (Louisville)
Taj is the brother of former Mountaineer basketball guard Jonathan Powell, who is now at North Carolina. He decommitted the day after West Virginia lost to Ohio and flipped to Louisville that same day.
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A West Virginia National Guard member who was fatally shot last month in the nation’s capital was laid to rest with full military honors in a private ceremony.
Spc. Sarah Beckstrom’s funeral took place Tuesday at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton, Gov. Patrick Morrisey said in a statement.
“The ceremony was deeply moving and reflected the strength, grace, and love of a remarkable young woman and the family and friends who surrounded her,” Morrisey said.
Beckstrom graduated with honors from Webster County High School in 2023 and joined the National Guard several weeks later. She served in the 863rd Military Police Company.
Beckstrom and Staff Sgt. Andrew Wolfe were ambushed as they patrolled a subway station three blocks from the White House on Nov. 26. She died the next day.
Rahmanullah Lakanwal, a 29-year-old Afghan national who was also shot during the confrontation, has been charged with murder. He pleaded not guilty.
Morrisey has said Wolfe, who remains in a hospital in Washington, is slowly healing and his family expects he will be in acute care for another few weeks.
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