Gavin Kelly and Dawson Montesa Earn Big 12 Weekly Honors

The West Virginia University baseball team has won three consecutive series to begin the season and after taking two of three at Kennesaw State over the weekend and utility infielder Gavin Kelly was selected the Big 12 Player of the Week, and starting right-handed pitcher Dawson Montesa was named Big 12 Co-Newcomer of the Week.

Kelly is currently on a six-game hitting streak, including four consecutive multi-hit games. The sophomore caught fire in the in the batter’s box last week. He hit.579 (11-for-19) with two home runs, three doubles, six RBI and seven runs scored. Kelly produced three hits in all three games versus Kennesaw State, including barreling his two home runs in the season finale – his first multi home run game of his career. The Pittsburgh (PA) native also added four walks for a .652 OBP and a 1.705 OPS.

Kelly is the 18th Mountaineer to earn Big 12 Player of the Week and the first WVU player to earn the accolade since Logan Sauve on April 14, 2025.

Montesa has had a solid start to the season and produced his best performance to date in the series opener against Kennesaw State. The junior threw seven innings and recorded a season-high 11 strikeouts, allowed just one run on four hits to record his second win of the season. His 26 strikeouts on the season currently rank second in Big 12.

Overall, it is the 20th time a Mountaineer has taken home Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors and Montesa becomes the 18th player, the first since Derek Clark on May 13, 2024.

West Virginia is back in action on Wednesday, March 4 as the Mountaineers travel to Huntington (WV) to take on the Marshall Thundering Herd. The first pitch is set for 5:00 p.m. EST.