Athens, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Baseball team (13-10, 4-6) began their final MEC South weekend when they hit the road to face Concord on Saturday. The Cardinals would end up dropping both games of the doubleheader, and dropped their record to 4-6 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. They fell in game one 5-4 before coming back game two and falling 6-2 in the second game.

Game One: Concord 5, Wheeling 4

In game one, the two teams showed their offensive prowess right from the get-go. It began in the top of the first as Christian Boyles singled to start the game. He would be replaced by Kobe Hill on a Fielder's Choice before a Jacob Murray double put runners on second and third with one out. Braden Killens would step in and kept his monster week going, lifting a sacrifice fly to left field scoring Hill and giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Wheeling would strand a runner at third, but the Mountain Lions came out just as hot against Cardinal's starter Kody McCarley. McCarley was charged with three runs in the first inning and as the game moved to the second, Concord would take a 3-1 lead. After a rough first inning, McCarley bounced back with a scoreless second before the Cardinals got him the lead back in the top of the third.

After back-to-back strikeouts to start the inning, Murray stepped back in and picked up his second extra base hit of the day. He lifted a solo home run to straight away center and the Cardinals cut the Concord lead to 3-2. Killens followed with a single before Spencer Craig walked to put runners at first and second with two outs. Thomas Kegerreis stepped in and promptly singled up the middle to tie the game at 3-3. Garth Charlton would follow and doubled home Craig to get the Cardinals back in front at 4-3. With the lead back in their hands, the Cardinals once again turned to their ace to look and preserve it. McCarley responded by not allowing a hit over the next two innings, but Concord was back on the board in the bottom of the fifth.

A bloop and a blast got Concord the lead right back as they made it a 5-4 game after five innings. McCarley would come back out for the sixth inning and, after getting two outs his day came to an end. McCarley ended up lasting 5.2 innings allowing five runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out four. Jake Rife would come in relief for McCarley and got the final out of the bottom of the sixth with a flyout bringing the Cardinals back to the plate in a one-run game. Murray would pick up his third hit of the day with a two-out single, but that was the only offense the Cardinals could generate as they ended up falling 5-4. The loss moved them to 4-5 in MEC play, but gave them a chance to even that record back up in game two of the day.

Jacob Murray led the way for the Cardinals, going 3-4 with a double, home run, and one RBI on the day. It was Murray's first three-hit game of the season as he continues to be a leader for this team. Braden Killens continued his strong week, going 1-3 with an RBI, and Garth Charlton and Thomas Kegerreis would put up identical numbers. Wheeling picked up eight hits as a team and looked to come back stronger in game two.

Game Two: Concord 6, Wheeling 2

After dropping a close one in game one, the Cardinals were looking to get some momentum right from the get-go. Pete Toula got things started with a hit-by-pitch and got into scoring position with a stolen base. Jacob Murray would draw a walk and Braden Killens followed it up with an RBI single to score Toula and make it a 1-0 Cardinals lead. Concord would come back to tie up the game in the bottom of the first and after one inning, things sat at 1-1. The Mountain Lions would add two more to their total in the bottom of the second and the Cardinals found themselves trailing 3-1 heading into the third. Jared Naida, who got the start for the Cardinals, came back with a scoreless third before exiting the game after allowing two more runs in the fourth to end his day.

Naida would finish throwing 4.0 innings of work allowing five runs on seven hits while walking four and striking out one. Concord would extend their lead to 6-1 in the fifth inning against reliever Kyle Dalton and brought the Cardinals to the plate trailing by five. Scott Kondroik was hit by a pitch with one out and an Anthony May single moved runners to first and third with one away. Aidan Willard lifted a sacrifice fly to right field scoring Kondroik and bringing the game to its final score of 6-2. The Cardinals would drop to 4-6 in conference play and have one more game against the MEC South division before turning their attention to their rivals in the MEC North as the stretch run for the playoffs begins.

Braden Killens continued to lead the Cardinals, going 1-3 with an RBI, bringing his RBI total to seven on the week. Aidan Willard drove in the other RBI on the day to round out the Cardinal's scoring. Jacob Murray and Anthony May each picking up hits to round out the Cardinal's offense.

The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Sunday, April 2nd, when they take on Glenville State at 1 PM. You can watch that game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.