Wheeling, W. Va. – It was a pair of pitchers duels at J.B. Chambers I-470 Complex on Sunday as the Wheeling University Baseball team (11-16, 7-5) took on West Virginia State. The Cardinals dropped a heart breaker in eight innings 6-2, but came back to win the second game 3-1 as pitching ruled the day.

Game One: West Virginia State 6, Wheeling 2

Game one of the day was a pitchers duel throughout as the Cardinals got a strong outing from right-hander Logan Pillars. He worked efficiently on the mound and needed just 58 pitches to get through the first seven innings of the game. He got the ball once again to start the extra frame and West Virginia State would end up taking advantage, putting up a four spot in the inning before Pillars exited. In total, Pillars went 7.0 innings giving up six runs, five earned, on eight hits while walking three and striking out three. Before that eighth inning, Pillars had limited the Yellow Jackets to just two runs and went the longest amount of innings for any Cardinals starter this season.

While Pillars was dealing early in the game, the Cardinals offense was working against a West Virginia State starter who was equally as strong. The Cardinals broke through in the bottom of the second after Chris Iazzetta led off with a walk, but he was caught stealing for the first out. Garth Charlton would then draw a walk and Lucas Rawlins lined a double down the right field line to put two in scoring position with one out. Two batters later, Jack Skantze came up with two outs and came through with a clutch two RBI double that put Wheeling out in front 2-0 after two innings of play.

 The Yellow Jackets responded with a run in the top of the third that brought the game to a 2-1 score, where it would remain for the next two innings. The Yellow Jackets would tie the game in the top of the sixth, forcing extra innings before putting up the four spot in the top of the eighth inning to take their first lead of the day. Anthony May would single to start the bottom of the eighth for the Cardinals, but a double play and a groundout would end the game and gave Wheeling the game one loss.

Jack Skantze led the way for the Cardinals from the top of the lineup, going 1-4 with two RBI and a double in the game. No Cardinals finished with multi-hit games, but seven of the nine starters picked up a hit in the game. After Pillars exited the game, Kyle Dalton came in relief and was not charged with a run while allowing two hits. The Cardinals looked to rebound in game two of the doubleheader with another good pitching matchup brewing.

Game Two: Wheeling 3, West Virginia State 1

That pitching matchup would come to pass as Wheeling's Hayden Scudder and State's Chase Norris controlled the day. The two teams totaled just one hit through three innings and  combined for just eight hits in the game. Scudder had a no-hitter going into the sixth inning. He ended up losing it when he gave up three hits, but allowed just one run in his outing. He totaled six innings of work in the game while allowing an unearned run on three hits while striking out three. He has been strong in his first two starts of the year for the Cardinals, taking a no hitter into the fifth in both outings. He earned his second straight win as he helped secure his spot in the rotation for the immediate future.

The only run of the game for the Yellow Jackets came courtesy of an unearned run in the top of the second. That lead wouldn't last long as Jacob Murray came to the plate to start the bottom of the third. Murray crushed his team-leading sixth home run of the season out to left-center field to tie the game at 1-1. The score would remain that way until the bottom of the fifth after Garth Charlton walked to start the inning and Chris Iazzetta singled to put two on. A double play moved the runner up to third with two outs. Anthony May then came up and struck out, but a dropped third strike allowed him to reach first and Garth Charlton came home on the backend to give Wheeling a 2-1 lead. 

In the bottom of the sixth Wheeling was looking for an insurance run after back-to-back errors put two on base. J.R. Heavilin came up and drove an RBI single to bring home Blake Vandiver and make it a 3-1 game. Jake Rife came in to close out the game, and earned his first career save allowing one hit while facing four batters in the seventh. He allowed a one out double, but was able to strand him there to end the inning and secure Wheeling's 3-1 victory. They were able to split the doubleheader and salvaged a game of the four game weekend set.

 Jacob Murray led the way on offense going 1-3 with a home run and an RBI in the win. J.R. Heavilin added the other RBI going 1-2 with a walk and an RBI. Jack Skantze and Chris Iazzetta each picked up hits in the win. The Cardinals moved to 7-5 in MEC play after going 1-3 on the weekend.

The Wheeling University Baseball team begins Divisional play when they return to action on Saturday, April 9th, when they start a four-game series with Fairmont State.