Wheeling, W. Va. - Due to inclement weather coming in over the weekend, the Wheeling University Baseball team (4-9, 0-0) opened up their three-game series with Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP) on Thursday afternoon. The Cardinals got on the board early, and their pitching was able to hold it down the rest of the way as they opened the series with a 3-2 win. The Cardinals blanked the Crimson Hawks over the final four innings of the game as they picked up a big regional win before Conference play.

For the Cardinals, the offense started right from the opening pitch when Blake Vandiver singled with one out in the top of the first. He would steal second to get himself into scoring position and took advantage of a throwing error to move himself up to third with one out. That brought Riley Cameron to the plate, who has been red hot over his last few games, and he delivered with an RBI single to give Wheeling the early 1-0 lead. Cameron got up to second to give the Cardinals another runner in scoring position, but he was stranded there and the score sat at 1-0 after half an inning.

As the game moved to the second inning, Wheeling was back at it again when senior Chris Iazetta drew a walk to start the inning. However, he was caught stealing and Lucas Rawlins would replace him drawing a one-out walk. Connor Watt singled to put runners at first and second, but a strikeout gave Wheeling two outs in the inning. Things moved back to the top of the lineup, and Jack Skantze came through with a two-out RBI single scoring Rawlins and giving Wheeling a 2-0 lead. IUP answered in the bottom of the second, but Wheeling still held the lead at 2-1.

From there, starting pitcher Dominic Parker-McDonald took over the game in his first start of the season. After allowing that early run, he settled in and threw up back-to-back zeroes in the third and fourth innings. He finished the night with 6.0 strong innings, allowing two earned runs on three hits while walking two and striking out three. He faced just four batters over the minimum in the game and was efficient on the mound. Parker-McDonald was the second Cardinals pitcher to reach the sixth inning this season as the battle for time in the starting rotation continues.

Before Parker-McDonald's departure, Wheeling netted him an insurance run in the top of the fifth. Skantze laid down a bunt to start the inning and Vandiver singled and advanced on a throw, but the runner was cut down at third and Wheeling had a runner at second with one out. A foul out produced the second out of the inning, but J.R. Heavilin picked up the runner with an RBI single and the Cardinals found themselves ahead 3-1. That run would prove to be big as IUP added another in the bottom of the fifth and Wheeling was staked to a 3-2 lead.

After Parker-McDonald departed, junior Hayden Scudder took over and was dominant over the final three innings of the game. He allowed two hits over his three innings of work and earned his first save of the season, throwing the final three innings of the game. Scudder faced just three batters in each of those three innings, rolling a double play in the eighth in between two 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and ninth innings. For Wheeling, it was their third regional win of the season and marked their first win against a Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) school this season.

While there wasn't a whole lot of offense to go around in the game, Wheeling did manage to have three players finish with multi-hit games. J.R. Heavilin and Jack Skantze led the way each going 2-4 and driving in a run for the Cardinals. The other player with a multi-hit game was Blake Vandiver, who went 2-4 with two runs scored in the game. The Cardinals also got hits from Riley Cameron, Lucas Rawlins, and Connor Watt to round out the afternoon's games.

Games two and three of the three-game set with the Crimson Hawks will be played as a doubleheader on Friday in Indiana, PA. First pitch for game one is scheduled for noon followed by the second game at around 3:30 pm.