AVON, Ohio (April 20) – The Wheeling Jesuit University baseball team was handed a pair of tough one-run losses to close out the series at Notre Dame (Ohio) Saturday. The Cardinals lost 1-0 in the opener, before the Falcons walked off WJU with a 5-4 game two win.
The Cardinals fall to 8-29 overall, 6-16 in the Mountain East Conference (MEC). Meanwhile, Notre Dame moves to 13-11 against league foes, 19-22 overall.
GAME ONE: Notre Dame 1, Wheeling Jesuit 0
Despite a phenomenal pitching performance by freshman
Zach Rohaley (Washington, Pa./Canon-McMillan), the Cardinals were dealt a 1-0 loss to open the day.
Rohaley (3-4) allowed one run (unearned) on four hits with a season-high nine strikeouts and one walk over six innings on the bump.
Notre Dame scored the lone run in the game in the third inning with the help of two errors. The Falcons got a one-out walk and advanced him to second on a ground out. The next batter reached on an error, before a failed pick-off allowed the runner to score.
The Cardinals threatened in the sixth with runners on first and third, but the Falcons kept the game scoreless and held on to win the game.
Notre Dame's Tyler Gault finished off the complete-game shutout with six strikeouts, while allowing just two hits.
GAME TWO: Notre Dame 5, Wheeling Jesuit 4
The Cardinals were dealt a 5-4 loss on a walk-off in the seventh inning in game two.
WJU broke through in the second when freshman shortstop
Ryan Lynn (Butler, Pa./Butler Area) drove in a pair with a single to center field.
Notre Dame sliced the lead in half in the bottom of the second, but a sacrifice fly by junior
Philip Derick (Prattsburgh,Pa./Prattsburgh Central) in the third inning rebuilt the lead to 3-1.
The Falcons responded once again in the bottom of the third with two runs to tie the game, before freshman
Lucas Rawlins (Pickerington, Ohio/Pickerington North) helped the Cards reclaim the lead at 4-3 in the fourth inning.
Notre Dame tied the game back up at 4-4 on a wild pitch in the fifth. The score remained the same entering the bottom of the seventh, when a Falcon reached base on a error with two outs and scored on a walk-off single to end the game.
The Cardinals return home on Wednesday, April 24 when they host Salem (W.Va.) for a non-conference single nine-inning game at 4 p.m.