West Liberty, W. Va. – With a playoff spot on the line, the Wheeling University Baseball team went up the hill to take on West Liberty in the battle for Wheeling. The Cardinals earned a split of the two game series to keep their playoff hopes alive in the Mountain East Conference. The offense led the charge in game one as Wheeling put up 18 runs in an 18-4 win over the Hilltoppers, but it was West Liberty who got the best of the Cardinals in game two in a 4-2 game.

Game One: Wheeling 18, West Liberty 4

 As the Cardinals entered the weekend, they needed atleast one big win on Saturday to keep themselves alive in the MEC Playoff race. The Cardinals brought the offense right from the get go as Blake Vandiver drew a one out walk and Riley Cameron singled to put two on with one out. That brought J.R. Heavilin t the plate and he drove in the game's first run with an RBI double that made it 1-0.  Chris Iazzetta then stepped up and doubled home the two runners on base and Wheeling was out to a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals sent Hayden Scudder to the mound and he held the Hilltoppers off the board in the bottom of the first and the Cardinals went right back at it in the top of the second.

 After a quick out to start the inning, Anthony May singled and got a runner on with one out. Jack Skantze would bring him home with an RBI triple to make it a 4-0 Cardinals advantage. Blake Vandiver then singled home Skantze to make it a 5-0 game and two batters later Heavilin drew a walk to put runners at the corners with two outs. Chris Iazzetta was given another run-scoring opportunity and he came through with an RBI single today make it a 6-0 game. Jacob Murray would then reach on an error as the Cardinals brought home two more runs and made it an 8-0 game. Lucas Rawlins followed it up with a double to score another run and bring the Wheeling advantage to 9-0. The Hilltoppers added four runs in the bottom of the second and made it a 9-4 game.

The Cardinals added three more runs in the top of the third, as Riley Cameron started things with an RBI single to make it 10-4. J.R. Heavilin then followed with a double that scored Cameron and made it 11-4 in favor of the Cardinals after three innings of play. The offense slowed for the next couple of innings as the two teams were stuck at that 11-4 score. Scudder took control of the game after that, throwing the complete seven innings allowing just those four second inning runs. He earned his fifth win of the season and started the day out strong. Scudder walked a batter and struck out six in the game as he earned a win and got the day started out strong.

The Cardinals finished the game strong with seven runs scored in the final two innings as they solidified their victory. In the top of the sixth, the Cardinals added three more runs as the Cardinals got back-to-back singles to start the inning and added a walk from Connor Watt to load the bases. Anthony May would drive in a run with a bases loaded walk and, after a Cardinals strikeout, Blake Vandiver would drive two more in with an RBI double that made it a 14-4 game. The Cardinals added four more runs in the top of the seventh on two errors, a Blake Vandiver RBI single, and an RBI single from Lucas Rawlins that brought the game to it's final score of 18-4 .

Six of the nine Cardinals finished the day with a multi-RBI game, led by Blake Vandiver, who went 3-5 with four RBI. Chris Iazzetta and Jacob Murray each drove in three RBI while Lucas Rawlins, J.R. Heavilin, and Jack Skantze each drove in two runs in the game. Anthony May rounded out the Cardinals offense, going 3-4 with an RBI.

Game Two: West Liberty 4, Wheeling 2

After busting out for 18 runs in game one, the Cardinals were looking to get the bats going once again in game two. However, the two teams were locked in a pitching duel as runs came at a premium. Logan Pillars got the game two start for the Cardinals opposing West Liberty's Jared Pennybacker and the two went pitch for pitch with each other. The Cardinals picked up their first hit of the day in the first inning and the Hilltoppers owed in the second with their first hit, but neither team scored a run. West Liberty broke through for the games first run in the top of the third and put Wheeling behind for the first time all day. The score would remain 1-0 in favor of the Hilltoppers into the Cardinals broke through in the top of the sixth.

Senior Jack Skantze walked to start the inning and a flyout kept him at first with one away. Riley Cameron was up next and he picked up his runner with an RBI double that tied the game at 1-1. The Cardinals had a runner in scoring position with one out and the Cardinals would pick up their first lead of the game. After a walk by J.R. Heavilin, both runners took off and moved to second and third with one man out. That brought Garth Charlton to the plate and he picked up the team's second run of the day with a sacrifice fly that brought home Cameron and made it a 2-1 game in favor of the Cardinals. A flyout ended the inning and the Cardinals looked poised for a big game two sweep heading into the final two innings.

However, West Liberty would respond in the bottom of the sixth inning, scoring three more runs to take a 4-2 lead heading into the seventh inning.  The Cardinals would grind out three strong at-bats but couldn't get a runner on base, going 1-2-3 in the inning to finish the second game falling 4-2 and splitting the doubleheader. The loss moved the Cardinals to 16-14 in MEC play and they kept themselves alive in the playoff race. They enter the final day of regular season play sitting two games behind Notre Dame for the final playoff spot. They need to sweep West Liberty and have Notre Dame be swept by Alderson Broaddus in their final doubleheader of the season.

 Riley Cameron led the offensive attack reaching base all three times, going 1-1 with a double, two walks, and an RBI.  Jacob Murray added a 1-3 day and Garth Charlton added the team's other RBI in the loss. Logan Pillars had a strong start, allowing two earned runs in 5.2 innings of work on the day.

The Wheeling Baseball team is back in action tomorrow when they host West Liberty on doubleheader action beginning at 12:30 PM.