Wheeling, W. Va. - With storms in the forecast for Tuesday afternoon and evening, the Wheeling University Baseball team's non-conference game against Indiana University of Pennsylvania has been canceled. The game will not be made up as the Cardinals now turn their attention towards their final Mountain East Conference (MEC) weekend set of the year as they get ready for a battle with rival West Liberty. After two big wins on Tuesday, a lot will be on the line with the Cardinals still right in the thick of the playoff hunt.
They earned a doubleheader sweep over the Battlers on Monday afternoon, with the offense combining to score 28 runs between the two-game set. Game one was a back-and-forth affair that saw Wheeling bust the game open late to pick up a 17-5 win, while the Cardinals mustered early offense in game two to down the Battlers 11-5. The pair of wins moved the team to 15-13 in MEC play this season, and they will now wait for Notre Dame College to finish up their four-game set with Frostburg State on Thursday as they try to determine their playoff fate.
As of now, the Cardinals sit two games back of Notre Dame for the final playoff spot out of the MEC North Division. If Notre Dame is swept by Frostburg State on Thursday, Wheeling will enter the weekend just one game back of the Falcons. However, if Notre Dame sweeps Frostburg State, the Cardinals will have an uphill climb sitting three games back of both Frostburg State and the Falcons with four games to play. The positive is if the two teams end the season in a tie, Wheeling holds the tie breaker over Notre Dame after taking three of four games from them in their series earlier in the year. The bad news is that if it comes down to Wheeling and Frostburg State, the Bobcats hold the tiebreaker over Wheeling. There is still a lot to be figured out over these next couple of games.
One of the things that has led to the resurgence of the Wheeling offense has been Chris Iazzetta's hot streak at the plate. The senior is hitting .312 (5-16) over his last five games while hitting two home runs and driving in 11 RBI during that span. He is surrounded by a multitude of guys who can hit the ball and score runs consistently making the Cardinals lineup a true threat. They have backed that up with solid pitching that has kept them in games as they make the stretch run towards the MEC playoffs.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Friday, May 6th, when they battle West Liberty on senior day with first pitch scheduled for 1 PM.
