Baseball

ASU’s Hairston, KU’s Rahe and WVU’s Smith Named Big 12 Baseball Weekly Award Recipients

Arizona State’s Landon Hairston (player), Kansas’ Boede Rahe (pitcher and co-newcomer) and West Virginia’s Sean Smith (co-newcomer) were named the Big 12 Baseball Players of the Week for the ninth week of the 2026 season.
 
Hairston delivered five home runs in five games, tying for the national lead for the week, and now leads the country with 23 on the season. His nine hits were tied for the most in the Big 12 this week, while his 10 runs were tied for the second-most nationally and his 14 RBI were tied for third-most in Division I. All nine of his hits went for extra bases, three more than any other player. The sophomore hit .409 (9-for-22) with 28 total bases and a .519 on-base percentage, and a 1.273 slugging percentage. Hairston recorded at least one hit in every game and homered in four of five games, including a two-home run, five-RBI performance in a 14-13 win over Utah.
 
Rahe anchored Kansas’ bullpen in a perfect 4-0 week that included wins over then-No. 19 Nebraska and a three-game sweep of then-No. 12 UCF. The redshirt junior earned the win in the series opener against the Knights and picked up two saves. The Marion, Iowa native threw a combined 7.0 innings over his three relief appearances, finishing with a 0.00 ERA, two hits, 0 earned runs, two walks and eight strikeouts. He highlighted his week with a three-inning, hitless save against Nebraska, where he didn’t allow a baserunner and recorded four strikeouts. He sits tied for the second-most wins in the Big 12 this season with 5.
 
Smith led the Big 12 in batting average for the week, going 9-for-15 (.600), while tying for the league lead in doubles (4) and hits (9) in four games. The senior outfielder added six RBI, four runs, two walks and one stolen base. Smith recorded a hit in all four games and didn’t record a single strikeout on the week, highlighting his performances with a four-hit effort in Sunday’s road win at Texas Tech. The Moss Point, Mississippi native finished the week with a 1.514 OPS and helped West Virginia secure a series win over the Red Raiders.