Wheeling, WV. – As they come down the stretch towards the 2023 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament, Wheeling University Head Baseball Coach Ryan Lewicki has stressed the importance of winning weekend series. On Monday, the Wheeling University Baseball team (23-17, 12-12) did just that as they earned a split with Fairmont State on Monday afternoon to move to 12-12 in conference play. They fell in game one in a close 4-2 contest before ending with an early outburst to help them pick up a 6-1 win in game two as they took three out of four games in the series.

Game One: Fairmont State 4, Wheeling 2

In the first game of the day, Dominic Parker-McDonald got the start for the Cardinals and was strong early on in the game. He would put together a 1-2-3 inning top of the first inning before allowing a run in the top of the second as Fairmont State took a 1-0 lead. Wheeling responded in the bottom of the third as Christian Boyles drew a one-out walk to put a runner on. He would steal second before a strikeout went down as the second out of the inning, bringing Braden Killens to the plate. Killens came through with a two-out single and brought home Boyles to tie the game at 1-1. Fairmont State responded with three runs of their own in the top of the fourth and after four innings of play it was Fairmont State 4, Wheeling 1

Parker-McDonald would put up two straight zeroes to end his day and was pulled after the top of the  sixth inning. He finished the day throwing 6.0 in ings allowing four runs, three earned, on six hits while walking four and striking out seven. His offense would give him one more run of support in the bottom of the sixth as Killens started things with a double. Jacob Murray would then step in and replaced him at second base with an RBI double that would bring home Killens and made it a 4-2 game. Murray would get to third but that's as far as he would get to end the inning. Jake Rife came in to pitch the top of the seventh and brought the team back to the bat racks with the score sitting at 4-2.

The bottom of the seventh started with a pop out before Boyles got into scoring position with a one-out double. Spencer Craig walked and was pinch ran for by Donovan Dubuisson before a ground ball moved runners to second and third with two away. It brought Murray to the plate and he nearly tied the game with a ball that fell just to the left of the left field foul line. He would come back and ended up striking out to end the game as the Cardinals fell 4-2.

Braden Killens led the day once again for the Cardinals as he continues his recent hot streak. He finished 2-4 with a double and a RBI to begin his day. Jacob Murray would drive home the other run of the day, finishing 1-4 with a double and an RBI. Seven of the nine Cardinals finished the day with at least one hit with four of those hits going for extra bases. The Cardinals would look to bounce back and win the weekend as they headed into game two.

Game Two: Wheeling 6, Fairmont State 1

Game two of the day saw the Pirates give the ball to Kyle Dalton, who made his third start of the season. After throwing 3.1 innings of one run ball to earn his first victory of the season last time out, Dalton came out strong for the second straight start. He allowed one hit and struck out the side in the first before his offense got going. Christian Boyles started things out with a single and stole second before Aidan Willard drew a walk. Back-to-back fly outs would be the first and second outs of the inning before Thomas Kegerreis came through with an RBI single to make it a 1-0 Wheeling lead. Scott Kondroik would then step in and lifted a three-run home run down the left field line to make it a 4-0 Cardinal lead after an inning of play.

The bottom of the second kept the momentum going as Boyles came through with a two-out single. Willard stepped in and singled to center field as Boyles, who was on the move on the pitch, came all the way around to score before Willard was thrown out at second to end the inning. Another Cardinal run would come across in the bottom of the third. Lucas Rawlins hit a one-out double. He moved to third on a ground out and would come home to score when Kondroik singled through the right side for his fourth RBI of the day to make it 6-0 Wheeling after three innings. As the offense kept going, Dalton continued to deal on the mound with zeroes in the second and third, including a 1-2-3 bottom of the third.

Dalton would throw one more scoreless inning in the fourth before bringing his day to an end. The 4.0 innings were a career-high for the junior as he moves to 2-1 on the year. He threw 4.0 innings allowing just two hits while walking three and striking out a career-high seven strikeouts. Jake Rife would come in for the fifth and threw a scoreless fifth before allowing a run in the bottom of the sixth to bring it back to a 6-1 game. Hunter Dyck would come in to end the game and allowed a base runner on a walk and struck out two batters to end the game and give Wheeling the 6-1 win and the weekend series win.

The Cardinals would be led by Scott Kondroik, who drove in a career-high four runs in the game. He went 2-4 with a home run and four RBI from the number six spot in the order. Thomas Kegerreis added a 2-3 day with a triple and an RBI while Braden Killens added a 1-2 day with an RBI. The Cardinals earned their first MEC weekend win of the season, taking three out of four from the Falcons as they look to keep their second place standing in the MEC North Division.

The Wheeling University Baseball team returns rti action on Tuesday, April 25th, when they host Seton Hill in non-conference action at 3 PM.