Nine Mountaineers Earn All-Big 12 Conference Honors

The Big 12 Conference announced its baseball season awards on Tuesday and nine Mountaineers collected All-Big 12 honors.

Seniors Logan Sauve and Griffin Kirn were selected to the All-Big 12 First Team while senior outfielder Kyle West and graduate starting pitcher Jack Kartsonas earned spots on the second team. Gavin Kelly was named to the All-Freshman Team while senior Reese Bassinger, sophomore Chase Meyer, senior Jace Rinehart, and junior Sam White were all earned honorable mention status.

Sauve finished the season hitting .287 with seven home runs, six of which came against Big 12 opponents, and 33 RBI. He is second on the team with 41 runs scored and is 7-for-7 on stolen base attempts. The All-Big 12 honor marks the second after being named an honorable mention as a freshman in 2023.

Kirn was 4-2 on the season with a 3.36 ERA and a team-high 83 strikeouts in 77.2 innings pitched across 14 starts. Among qualified pitchers, he had the fifth-lowest ERA and the sixth-most strikeouts in the Big 12. Kirn has three double-digit strikeout games this season, including a season-high 14 against Utah.

West, along with White, led the Mountaineers with a .352 batting average and a 1.109 OPS, ranking fifth in the Big 12 and also led the team with nine home runs, a .616 slugging percentage and a .493 on-base percentage. s

Kartsonas led all Big 12 qualified pitchers with a 2.29 ERA in 55.0 innings this season. He made 17 appearances on the mound with six starts, all of which came in conference play. He is 6-2 on the season and has 63 strikeouts against just 13 walks. Kartsonas went 5-1 against Big 12 opponents and held hitters to a .226 batting average.

Kelly played in 44 games and made 38 starts at multiple positions, including catcher, second base, and the outfield. He hit .304 with a home run, 32 RBI, and 30 runs scored while stealing 14 bases, second-most on the team. He is the first Mountaineer to be named to the All-Freshman Team since JJ Wetherholt and Chris Sleeper in 2022.

Bassinger went 6-1 this season with a 3.95 ERA in a team-high 25 appearances out of the bullpen. He had 36 strikeouts and walked 10 in 54.2 innings, the lowest among all Big 12 qualified pitchers. Bassinger also picked up five saves this season, tied for most on the team and sixth-most in the Big 12.

Meyer went 8-2 on the mound this season in 19 appearances. His eight wins led the Mountaineers and was second in the Big 12. The sophomore recorded 57 strikeouts in 40.2 innings of work and held opponents to a .179 batting average while producing a 3.54 ERA. He earned Big 12 Pitcher of the Week honors after striking out a season-high nine in 3.2 scoreless innings against Oklahoma State.

Rinehart hit .333 this season in 50 games while making 46 starts in the outfield. He led the Big 12 with 20 doubles while hitting eight home runs and tallying a team-high 50 RBI. His 58 hits and 102 total bases also led the Mountaineers. In Big 12 play, Rinehart hit .346 with and drove in 32 runs, sixth-most in the Big 12 in conference games.

White earns All-Big 12 honorable mention status for the second consecutive season after hitting .352, tied for the best on the team. Despite missing nine games, White was second on the team with 57 hits, 39 RBI, and 15 doubles. He also contributed with four home runs, 40 runs scored, and nine stolen bases.

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