Wheeling, W. Va. – Mountain East Conference (MEC) North play kicked off on Friday from the J.B. Chambers I-470 Complex as the Wheeling University Baseball team (16-12, 7-7) hosted Notre Dame College. The Cardinals managed to start divisional play on a high note, sweeping the Falcons in the first two games of the series to bring their conference record back to even at 7-7. The got a walk-off 6-5 victory in game one and followed it with a dominant pitching performance in a 7-1 game two win.

Game One: Wheeling 6, Notre Dame College 5

The first game of the day saw the Cardinals turn to the guy who has been their ace so far this season in Kody McCarley. McCarley was strong through the game's first three innings, not allowing a run and scattering three hits. His team would reward him in the bottom of the second as Braden Killens would single to start the inning. Thomas Kegerreis would then reach on an error and Kobe Hill was hit by a pitch to loax the bases with nobody out. Garth Charlton would bring home the first run of the game with an RBI single and Wheeling took a 1-0 lead. A sacrifice fly from Anything May and an RBI groundout by Nic Ancelet would drive in two more runs to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead. A scoreless top of the third kept the Cardinals ahead and they lead 3-0 after three.

However, Notre Dame College would come back with a vengance in the top of the fourth, putting up four runs and the Cardinals would have to play from behind for the first time in the game.

However, in the bottom of the fourth, the Cardinals would take the lead right back as May hit a two-out double to bring Ancelet to the plate. Ancelet would come through with a two-run home run that has them right back in front 5-4. McCarley would get through five innings of work before giving way to Jake Rife in the sixth. McCarley would end up going 5.0 innings  giving up four runs, three earned, on eight hits on four walks while striking out three. Rife would give up one run in the sixth and the game was tied at 5-5. Hunter Dyck would come on to get the final out of the sixth and kept the game tied heading into the bottom of the seventh.

Aidan Willard would pinch hit to start that top do the seventh and singled to get things going. Lucas Rawlins laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the runner to scoring position and Jacob Murray would then be hit by a pitch to bring Braden Killens to the plate with two on and one out. Killens would pop out to third base for the second out and it was up to Thomas Kegerreis. Kegerreis would come through with an RBI single to left that brought home Willard form second base. It was the Cardinal's third walk-off win of the season and got the day started off strong on day one of MEC North Play.

Along with getting the walk-off hit to win the game, Kegerreis was also the only Cardinal with multiple hits on the day. He finished 2-4 with a run scored and an RBI to get his day started. Nic Ancelet added a team-high three RBI on the day, going 1-3 with a home run and three RBI while Garth Charlton wrapped up the day going 1-3 with an RBI on the day. The Cardinals headed into game two looking for their third conference sweep of the season .

Game Two: Wheeling 7, Notre Dame College 1

While the offense continued their success in the second game of the day, it was pitching that led the way as Dominic Parker-McDonald took the mound in game two. He entered okay with 6.0 consecutive scoreless innings and continued that streak early on. He scattered four hits over the first three innungsKf play, and only had multiple runners on base one time during that stretch. Heading into the bottom of the third, the game still sat at 0-0 before the Cardinals offense got going. Anthony May got the Cardinals on the board with a solo home run thatsfe it a 1-0 Wheeling lead. Back to back to back hitters would be hit by a pitch and Jacob Murray woulds single to load the bases once again with nobody out.

It would be a patient at-bat from Braden Killens that brought in the second run of the game and extended the Wheeling lead to 2-0. After a strikeout would serve as the first out of the inning, a wild pitch had the Cardinals back on the board, extending their lead to 3-0. Kegerreis would draw a walk to load the bases once more and a Fielder's Choice from Kobe Hill brought home Murray and made it a 4-0 Wheeling lead after three. Killens would add another RBI in the bottom of the fourth with a single that scored Aidan Willard to make it a 5-0 Wheeling game after four. Parker-McDonald threw up a zero in the fourth but had his scoreless inning streak end at 10.0 innings as Notre Dame College pushed across their first run in the top of the fifth to make it 5-1.

After being held off the board in the bottom of the fifth, the Cardinals came back in the sixth as Scott Kondroik doubled to start the inning. Jacob Murray would be hit by a pitch and an RBI groundout moved both runners to scoring position with one out. Lucas Rawlins would then lift a sacrifice glye to right to score Kondroik and make it a 6-1 game. After a wild pitch moved Murray to third, he would come home on an RBI single from Kegerreis that made it a 7-1 game. Parker-McDonald came back out for the seventh and finished it out allowing just one hit and finishing our the complete game. He ended up throwing 7.0 innings allowing one run on nine hits while walking one and striking out five.

The win moved the Cardinals to 7-7 in MEC play and pushed their lead over Notre Dame College to 3.0 games in the standings. Braden Killens led the war going 1-3 with two RBI and a walk on the day. Anthony May added a 1-4 day with a home run and Lucas Rawlins and Thomas Keggeris each drove in runs to end the day.

The Wheeling University Baseball team returns ri action on Saturday when they play the final two games of the series. You can watch the games live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.