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Box Score 2 Wheeling, W. Va. – Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division Play came to the J.B. Chambers I-470 complex on Friday when the Wheeling University Baseball team (12-22, 8-10) welcomed in Frostburg State for the first two games of a four game series. There was excitement throughout the afternoon, but the Cardinals ended up taking two losses. They fell in an action-packed game one to the Bobcats 9-8 and then fell in game two 13-2 to end the day.
Game One: Frostburg State 9, Wheeling 8
The first game of the day was one of the most exciting games of the season coming down to the very last inning. As the Cardinals headed into the top of the seventh, they were leading 6-4 and called to the bullpen for reliever
Hayden Wilcox. After a hit and a walk to leadoff the inning
Austin Gussman came in and got a big out number one when he struck out Bryce Jackson. After a walk loaded the bases, he got the innings second out with another strikeout and left the bases loaded with two outs in a two-run game. However, back-to-back walks tied the game and a bases clearing double made it 9-6 and brought Wheeling to the plate.
It was the Cardinals turn to battle, and battle they did as
Connor Watt worked a leadoff walk to start the inning and two batters later
Riley Cameron walked.
J.R. Heavilin would be hit by a pitch and just like that the Cardinals had the bases loaded with one out. A strikeout produced the second out of the inning before
Lucas Rawlins came to the plate. He poked a ball through the left side of the infield and brought home a run to make it a 9-7 game. That brough
Chris Iazzetta to the plate as a wild pitch brought home
Riley Cameron and made it a 9-8 game. With two runners in scoring position the game would end as a strikeout became the final out of the game giving Frostburg State a 9-8 win.
The seventh inning was indicative of the entire game as the two teams went back and forth all afternoon long. Frostburg State scored two in the top of the first, bringing Wheeling to the plate down 2-0. Watt got the game started with a walk and a
Blake Vandiver double put two men in scoring position.
Riley Cameron, who has been red hot as of late, would come through with an RBI groundout to make it a 2-1 game.
J.R. Heavilin followed him with an RBI single and the game was tied at 2-2. Wheeling was back at it in the bottom of the second as they had three straight singles to start the inning. A fielder's choice brought home the first run of the inning before a sacrifice fly from Vandiver made it a 4-2 Wheeling lead.
They continued to add to their lead in the bottom of the fifth when Watt doubled to start the inning followed by a Vandiver single to put runners on the corners. Wheeling would manufacture a run as
Blake Vandiver stole second allowing Watt to sneak home to make it a 5-2 game. Heavilin would add his second RBI of the game with a double and extended Wheeling's lead to 6-2. Frostburg State added two runs in the top of the sixth inning to set up the wild seventh inning affair.
J.R. Heavilin led the way for the Cardinals going 2-3 with two RBI in the loss while
Blake Vandiver added two hits and an RBI of his own in the loss. Hitters 1-3 all picked up at least one RBI in the loss as the offense ruled the day. It was a great performance out of the bullpen for
Jake Rife, who threw 4.0 solid innings, allowing two runs on three hits while walking one and striking out one as he played a big role in keeping his team ahead heading into that last inning. Wheeling looked to use the momentum from the bottom of the seventh to start game two.
Game Two: Frostburg State 13, Wheeling 2
The second game of the day saw
Paul Tripi get the start for the Cardinals as they looked to even the day. However, it was Frostburg State that got things going putting up seven runs over the first four innings of the game. It was a good start for Tripi, who allowed just one first inning run followed by a 1-2-3 second to keep it a one run game. Then in the third the Bobcats tallies three runs and added three more in the fourth to extend their lead to 7-0. In total Tripi lasted five innings allowing seven runs on seven hits while walking five and striking out three. After an exciting first game, Wheeling began to fight back into the game in the bottom of the fourth alas they got on the board.
After a quick out to start the inning,
J.R. Heavilin hit his second double on the game and moved to third on a balk.
Jacob Murray would then ground a ball to third, but an errant throw allowed Heavilin to score and made it a 7-1 game.
Garth Charlton followed him up with a double that brought Murray home from second and made it a 7-2 game. A groundout moved the runner to third and a walk put runners on the corner, but a groundout ended the inning and Wheeling would head out to the field trailing by five. The Bobcats just kept coming, however, and added six more runs over the final three innings before all was said and done. The Cardinals managed just one more base runner during that time before falling 13-2.
Garth Charlton led the way for the Cardinals going 2-3 with a double and an RBI in the game as he recorded the team's lone RBI.
J.R. Heavilin was the other Cardinal to finish with a multi-hit game, going 2-3 on the afternoon. Wheeling will now look for a bounce back effort in games three and four on Sunday at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Complex.
The Wheeling University Baseball team will play games three and four of their series with Frostburg State on Saturday with first pitch at 1 PM.
