Wheeling, W. Va. - After salvaging a game in their four-game series with Frostburg State on Wednesday, the Wheeling University Baseball team (18-23, 9-11) heads into their biggest series of the year this weekend as they try to keep their Mountain East Conference (MEC) playoff hopes alive. They hit the road to battle Notre Dame College in a four-game set as they sit four games behind the Falcons for the third and final spot in the MEC playoff field.
They are coming off a four-game series with the MEC North leaders in Frostburg State and finished 1-3 in their four-game set. Their lone win came in the series finale Wednesday when they held on to defeat the Bobcats 4-2. The Cardinals scored all four of their runs in the first two innings and the bullpen would take things over from there. Kyle Dalton was the fourth pitcher to get the ball and he slammed the door facing three batters in the top of the seventh to earn his first collegiate save in the win. After dropping the previous six games in a row, it was a nice bounce back for the Cardinals as they try to get things on track.
Wheeling was without all the first three hitters in their order for the game but saw sophomore J.R. Heavilin step up big time in the number three hole. The sophomore contributed two doubles in the first game and a pretty painful RBI hit by pitch in game two to account for one of his team's four runs. Heavilin continued his strong season, raising his batting average to a team-high .414 and hit his team leading 16th and 17th doubles on the day. Lucas Rawlins and Jacob Murray contributed the final two RBI of the day with singles to round out Wheeling's offense.
For the pitching staff, it was a bullpen style game as head coach Ryan Lewicki was saving arms for their big weekend series. Hayden Scudder got the start and threw 2.0 clean innings before giving way to Dominic Parker-McDonald. Parker-McDonald allowed a solo home run but otherwise kept things clean before Jake Rife took over. Rife got into a slight jam in the top of the sixth as the tying run made it to scoring position, but he got a groundball to clean up the inning. Dalton finished the day and, after allowing the leadoff hitter to reach, rolled a double play and got a groundout to end the day and give Wheeling their ninth conference win.
As the Cardinals enter this weekend set, the race for the MEC playoffs in the North Division is heating up. The Cardinals currently sit tied for fourth with rival West Liberty and are four games behind Notre Dame for the #3 seed. A series win would set Wheeling up in prime position to grab the three spot and head into the playoffs with momentum on their side. However, while a series loss would not eliminate them from playoff contention, they would have to fight for their playoff lives if the Falcons win the series. It sets things up for an exciting three weeks of baseball as Wheeling tries to make the playoffs for the second straight season.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Falcons will be meeting for the 31st time on Saturday and Wheeling has a record of 11-19 in the previous 30 meetings. However, most of that success has come at home, where the Cardinals are 8-8 against Notre Dame College. When the series is in South Euclid, Ohio, Wheeling's record drops to 3-9 in 12 previous meetings. The Cardinals hadn't won a game against Notre Dame since 2017 until last season when they came out and swept their four-game set in Wheeling.
The Cardinals swept day one of the doubleheader winning 14-3 and 6-5 as they set the program record for wins in a season and bounced back on day two with a walk-off 7-5 win followed by a nine-inning 14-3 victory in game two. Riley Cameron was the driving force in the series picking up four RBI and a walk-off home run in the third game of the series. Chris Iazzetta drove in a run and former Cardinal Luis Dominguez picked up a team-high five RBI in the game.
The Details
First Pitch for Saturday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1 PM on the campus of Notre Dame College. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
