Washington, PA. – Coming into the weekend, Wheeling University Head Baseball Coach Ryan Lewicki was looking for his team to take at least two out of three in their weekend stretch at Wild Things Park. The Cardinals (2-1, 0-0) accomplished that goal on Sunday as they split their weekend finale and took two out of three from Wild Things Park. They began the day with a 6-4 extra innings win over Lake Erie and wrapped up the day with a 15-5 loss to CAL-U to end the weekend. Strong pitching and good run support from the lineup headlined a big weekend for the team.

Game One: Wheeling 6, Lake Erie 4

The Cardinals first game of the day was a thriller that would need extra innings to be decided. Early on, the two teams were locked in a pitchers duel as Lake Erie's Zack Saffell and Wheeling's Dominic Parker-McDonald went toe to toe over the first three innings of play. Parker-McDonald faced a combined eight batters over the first two innings, allowing a lone walk in the first and a lone single in the second. The Cardinals would reward their starter in the top of the third as Scott Kondroik got things started with a one-out double. Two batters later, Spencer Craig came through with a big RNJ single and the Cardinals were up 1-0 heading to the bottom of the third. Parker-McDonald responded to the lead with a 1-2-3 bottom of the third and after three Wheeling was ahead 1-0.

After a scoreless top of the fourth for the Cardinals, Lake Erie broke through against Parker-McDonald for the first time in the game, adding three runs in the bottom of the fourth to take a 3-1 lead. The Cardinals got one back in the top of the fifth as Kondroik once again got things going with a one out double and moved to third on a fly out by Jacob Murray. Craig would come through with his second RBI of the day, singling home Kondroik, and moved to second on a wild pitch. That allowed Anthony May to tie the game with an RBI single, bringing home Craig and tying the game at 3-3 after four and a half. Those three runs allowed in the bottom of the fourth would be the only three runs of the game allowed by Parker-McDonald. He finished his outing allowing one hit over two innings and ended the day throwing 6.0 innings allowing thee runs on five hits while walking three and striking out five.

Before Parker-McDonald left the game, his team would give him the lead as Sammy Kondroik single with one out in the top of the sixth. Two batters later he advanced to second on a passed ball and Pete Toula would walk to put two on and two out. Scott Kondroik would come through again with an RBI double driving in his brother and giving Wheeling the 4-3 lead. That 4-3 lead would remain as Hunter Dyck came out of the bullpen and was looking for the three-inning save. He had allowed just one hit over the first two innings and had two outs in the bottom of the ninth before a two-out RBI single sent the game to extra innings at 4-4. In the top of the 10th, Aidan Willard walked to start the inning and advanced to second on a failed pick off attempt to put a runner in scoring position with no one out.

Kobe Hill would step to the plate and promptly delivered on the first pitch, sending a double to centerfield to score Willard and give Wheeling a 5-4 lead. He would move to third on a balk with one out, but a groundout would keep a big insurance run at third with two outs. Christian Boyles would then step up and delivered a two out double to score Hill and give Wheeling a 6-4 lead. Dyck came out for the bottom of the 10th, this time looking for the win. He would retire the first two batters before allowing a two out single. The runner advanced to second on a stolen base, but Dyck would close things out with a strikeout that ended the game.

The Cardinals offense spread the love around, with five different players driving in atleast one run in the game. Spencer Craig led the way, going 2-4 with two RBI as he continues his success at first base. Scott Kondroik added a 3-6 day with an RBI while Christian Boyles, Anthony May, and Kobe Hill each driving in runs. With the game one win, the Cardinals headed into their final game of the weekend with a chance to pick up a sweep of the weekend set.

Game two: CAL-U 15, Wheeling 5

The final game of the weekend for the Cardinals saw them take on regionally ranked CAL-U, who served as the host for the tournament at Wild Things Park. Kenny Jinks would get the start, making his Cardinals debut and had a strong start with a 1-2-3 first inning. He picked up his first Wheeling strikeout in the inning, but the Cardinals were also held at bay, going 1-2-3 in each of the first two innings. CAL-U would break through first with a two-run home run from Nathan Meeks that gave the Vulcans a 2-0 lead. Wheeling would respond in the top of the third as Garth Charlton drew a one out walk. Two batters later, Christian Boyles would triple down the left field line, bringing home Charlton and making it a 2-1 game. After a Kobe Hill walk, Jacob Murray would hit into a fielder's choice that would end the inning. 

The Vulcans would then put together their biggest inning of the game as they had five runners touch home plate and opened up a 7-1 lead after three. After allowing a leadoff double to start the fourth, Jinks's day came to an end as the Cardinals called on Josh Wessler out of the bullpen. The Vulcans would add two more runs in the inning and brought Jinks's day to a close, throwing 3.0 innings while allowing eight runs on eight hits and striking out three. The Cardinals capitalized on a pair of Vulcan errors in the top of the fifth, with Nick Ancelet reaching on an error and coming around to score two batters later on a dropped fly ball. The Vulcans weren't done, adding four more runs in the bottom of the fifth and they extended their lead to 13-2 after five innings.

In the top of the sixth, the Cardinals started the inning with a groundout and a strikeout, and Craig stepped to the plate with two outs. He lifted a deep fly ball to left field for his first collegiate home run, which made it a 13-3 CAL-U lead. The Cardinals would add two more runs in the top of the eighth, as Thomas Keggeris walked with one out. Jacob Lentz and Ancelet would follow with walks of their own  before a wild pitch brought home Keggeris and made it a 15-4 game. Charlton would come up next and reaches on an infield single to third that brought home Lentz and made it a 15-5 game. Malcom Barret would then make his season debut in the eighth and walked three batters, struck out two and threw a scoreless inning to close out the day.

Offense was hard to come by in the game, but Spencer Craig led the way going 1-1 with a home run. The other two RBI on the day came from Christian Boyles and Garth Charlton, who went 1-4 and 1-3 respectively. The Cardinals sit in strong position going into week two of the season as they continue their tough non-conference stretch.

The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Friday, February 24th, when they start a three-game weekend set against Lincoln Memorial, with first pitch at 3 PM.