Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Buckhannon, W. Va. – After rain postponed the weekend by a day, the Wheeling University Baseball team (10-9, 1-6) got the Mountain East Conference (MEC) weekend started on Sunday in Buckhannon, West Virginia, as they took on West Virginia Wesleyan. The offense rolled, scoring 20 runs on the day as they earned a split, winning game one 13-2 before falling 8-7 in the second game of the day.

Game One: Wheeling 13, West Virginia Wesleyan 2

The Cardinals would go with Kenny Jinks in the first game of the day, and he pitched another strong game on the mound. He would work seven innings allowing just two runs, one earned, on five hits while walking three and striking out six as he earned his third win of the 2024 season. The offense gave him more than enough run support early as Aidan Willard was hit by a pitch to start the game. He would advanced to second on a passed ball and a walk from Christian Boyles and a stolen base would move runners to second and third with nobody out. Two batters later, Scott Kondroik would step in and lined a two-RBJ single to bring home Willard and Boyles and give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Thomas Kegerreis walked and Spencer Craig singled to load the bases with one out as the Cardinals continued to score.

Kaleb Scull would reach on a fielder's choice that scored Kondroik and Nic Ancelet would come back with an RBI single of his own. It would make it a 4-0 lead after a half inning, which ended up being more than enough run support for Jinks. The Bobcats would get two runs back in the bottom of the second to make it a 4-2 affair, but the Cardinals responded right back in the top of the third as Kegerreis started things with a double. Spencer Craig added a single and a sacrifice fly from Scull would bring home his second RBI of the day as he helped make it a 5-2 advantage. The offense continued into the top of the fourth inning, as Kegerreis brought home two more runs with a two-RBI single as the Cardinals upped their advantage to 7-2 after four.

In the top of the fifth, the Cardinals put together  their second four run inning of the game after Ancelet reached on a one-out single. Sammy Kondroik would follow with a single and Aidan Willard brought home the runner from second to make it an 8-2 Cardinal advantage.  After a pitching change, the Cardinals would take advantage of a Bobcat error as Kondroik and Scull both came around to score to make it a 10-2 Wheeling lead. The final run of the inning would come home on a Braden Killens sacrifice fly as Boyles scored to push Wheeling to a 11-2 lead. The offense would add two more runs before all was said and done on an error and a Scott Kondroik single that brought the final score to 13-2 in favor of the Cardinals.

Leading the way on the offensive side for the Cardinals was Scott Kondroik, who finished 3-5 with three RBI on the day. He was one of four Cardinals to pick up multiple RBI on the day as the offense got in double figures for the first time since March 10th, when they scored 16 against Glenville State. Thomas Kegerreis would add a 2-4 effort, while picking up two RBI, while Kaleb Scull and Christian Boyles each added two RBI of their own on the day. Aidan Willard and Braden Killens each added an RBI of their own to round out the effort. With the win, the Cardinals picked up their first MEC win of the season and looked for a sweep in game two.

Game Two: West Virginia Wesleyan 8, Wheeling 7

In the second game of the day, it was West Virginia Wesleyan who got out to the hot start, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first to take a 3-0 lead. The Cardinals would give way to Ethan Wendell in the second and he gave his team a chance to battle back. Wendell threw 2.2 perfect innings of work while striking out two batters. The Cardinals got one of those runs back in the top of the third after Bode Stewart reached on an error. A groundout would move him to third and Christian Boyles added a sacrifice fly that made it a 3-1 game. It would remain a 3-1 game until the top of the fifth as the Cardinal's bullpen kept the Bobcats at bay. Sebastian Khan delivered a scoreless bottom of the fourth to set up the offense.

Willard would start the inning with a single and got himself into scoring position courtesy of a wild pitch. Two batters later, Killens would fly out to move Willard to third and a two-out single from Scott Kondroik would bring him home. It cut the Bobcat lead to 3-2, but a run in the bottom half of the fifth made it a 4-2 game. The Cardinals had one more rally in them in the top of the seventh and it was nearly enough to pull away to victory. The Cardinals immediately loaded the bases as Aidan Willard walked and Boyles and Killens each singled. A fielding error would allow Scott Kondroik to reach, but cut down Willard at home to keep it a 4-2 game with one out. Kegerreis would tie the game with a two run single and two batters later a three-run blast from Kaleb Scull made it a 7-4 Cardinal advantage. However, in the bottom of the seventh, West Virginia Wesleyan would score four runs to pick up the 8-7 win.

Leading the way in game two for the Cardinals was Thomas Kegerreis, who finished 2-4 with a pair of TBJ. It was the second straight game that Kegerreis had multiple RBI, as he finished with four on the day. With the three run home run , Kaleb Scull would be the team's RBI leader with three as he blasted his second home run of the season. Scott Kondroik and Christian Boyles each added RBI to close things out.

The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Monday, March 25th, when they take on Davis & Elkins at 1 PM. You can watch the action live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.