Wheeling, W. Va. – After spending the previous weekend in Wilson, North Carolina, the Cardinals are back north as they prepare for their Mountain East Conference (MEC) play this weekend. Their final tune-up will come in the form of their pre-home opener as they take on Clarion at Bethany College with first pitch at 1:30 PM. It will serve as the makeup game from Saturday as they look to complete the four-game sweep of the weekend from Wilson, North Carolina. 

They wrapped up that weekend in Wilson, North Carolina, on Sunday as they took on Glenville State in non-conference action. It would be an offensive outburst for the team as they went over the 10-run mark for the fourth time this season as they took down the Pioneers 16-11. All 16 runs for the Cardinals were scored over the first five innings of the game as they built a 16-3 lead during that span. The big inning would come in the bottom of the fifth as the Cardinals put up 11 runs in the inning. Wheeling would pick up their eighth win of the season and are off to their best start to a season since the 2020 season, when they held an identical 8-3 record through their first 11 games.  

Leading the way for the Cardinals was junior Braden Killens, who finished 4-6 with a double, two runs scored, and three RBI. Killens came through with the biggest hit in the bottom of the fifth when he cleared the bases with a three-RBI double that opened the scoring and made it an 11-3 game. With the effort, Killens raised his batting average to .372 on the season and continues to lead the team with five home runs and 18 RBI. He is tied for the team lead with five home runs and leads the conference with 18 RBI through 11 games played. Killens is coming off a year where he earned both Second Team All-MEC and Second Team All-Region honors and started this season with a National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Preseason Honorable Mention All-Region honors. 

The other Cardinal to hit the three RBI mark in the game was outfielder Aidan Willard, who finished the game 2-4 with two walks and three RBI with two runs scored. Willard has been a spark plug at the top of the Cardinal's lineup, hitting .378 with 14 RBI to sit second on the team in both categories. Willard enters play on Saturday riding an eight game hitting streak that dates back to game to of the series against Dillard back on February 23rd. During that stretch, the senior has hit .423 (11-26) with 11 of his 14 RBI. There were four other Cardinals who also drove in multiple runs on the day as the Cardinals put together their third highest offensive output of the season. 

As they head into their final non-conference game before MEC play, the Cardinals look to continue their winning ways. They received votes in each of the first four NCBWA Preseason Poll and are looking to continue their success in breaking into the top 10 with a final push in region play. Each of their final 42 games of the season will come in region play as the Cardinals make a push towards the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. It begins with this final non-conference game before conference play as they hit the road towards the MEC Tournament. 

The Matchup 

The Cardinals and Golden Eagles will meet for the fifth time in program history on Wednesday, with the Cardinals leading the all-time series at 3-1. It will be the second neutral site meeting between the two teams, with Wheeling winning the first one earlier this weekend. The Cardinal's offense has ruled the series, averaging 11.25 runs per game during that stretch and scoring 10 or more runs in two of those four games. 

In their most recent meeting, the Cardinals picked up a 7-1 victory in their opener to their North Carolina trip on Friday. The Cardinals were led by Scott Kondroik, who finished 2-4 with a pair of singles and three RBI on the day. Kaleb Scull and Christian Boyles would each pick up multi-hit efforts on the day to round out the offense. 

The Details 

First pitch for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 1:30 PM at Bethany College's baseball field. You can watch the action live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.