Wheeling, W. Va. - After rains pushed the opener back a day, the Wheeling University Baseball team (18-15, 8-10) started their big divisional weekend on Sunday. They hosted the team that sits #1 in the MEC North Division as they took on Frostburg State at the J.B. Chambers I-470 Complex. The Cardinals battled throughout the day, but would drop both halves of the doubleheader, falling 6-2 in game one and falling 6-1 in the finale of the day as they look to bounce back in the final two games tomorrow.
Game One: Frostburg State 6, Wheeling 2
In the first game of the day, the Cardinals were the ones that got things started strong as Kenny Jinks took the mound. Jinks delivered a 1-2-3 top of the first, getting a pair of groundouts and a flyout to bring the Cardinals to the plate. In the bottom half of the inning, the Cardinals first two batters were retired, bringing up Braden Killens with nobody on and two outs. He worked the count to 2-1 before sending a pitch over the centerfield wall to give the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead, it was Killen's team-leading ninth home run of the season and gave the Cardinals an early lead. Jinks would work his way out of a jam in the second inning, allowing two singles before inducing a ground ball and getting a pickoff that limited the threat.
Frostburg State would get on the board in the top of the third, when Ethan Kiple stepped in and lifted a two-run home run that gave Frostburg State a 2-1 lead after three innings. The long ball would be the Cardinal's undoing as another two-run home run from Mikey Guy in the top of the sixth upped the Bobcat lead to 4-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth. It would spell the end of the day for Jinks, who threw 6.0 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits while striking out five batters on the night. The Cardinals would get another run in the bottom half of the sixth after Aidan Willard reached on an error. Braden Killens would draw a walk two batters later to put two on and tow out before the Cardinals took advantage of a Frostburg State miscue.
A wild pitch would allow both Willard and Killens to move up 90-feet, but an errant throw from the catcher into right field would allow Wheeling to add on. Willard would come home to score from third and the Cardinals cut the Frostburg State lead to 4-2. However, the Bobcats would hit their third two-run home run of the game, the second of the day for Kiple, and they extended the lead to four, making it a 6-2 affair. After two groundouts in the bottom of the seventh, Christian Boyles would come through with a two-out single. However, that would be the only hit of the inning for the Cardinals as they fell by that final score of 6-2.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Braden Killens, who reached base all three times, going 1-1 with a home run and two walks on the day. Killens has been a consistent power threat over his two seasons in a Cardinal uniform, and was just getting started on the day. Aidan Willard would score the other run for the Cardinals courtesy of the Wild Pitch, and finished 1-3. Nicholas Ancelet, Dylan Maltby, Spencer Craig, and Christian Boyles would each add hits on the day to round out the effort. The Cardinals would look for a bounce back effort in game two.
Game Two: Frostburg State 6, Wheeling 1
In the second game of the day, the Cardinals faced a tough opponent on the mound in Frostburg State's Jack Bauer. Bauer was strong throughout his six innings, and limited the Cardinal offense until the bottom of the sixth. Meanwhile, Wes Landis made the start for the Cardinals, coming off his best start of the season when he threw 7.0 shutout innings against Notre Dame College. After walking the leadoff batter and allowing a single, Landis got a big 6-4-3 double play to get himself out of the jam. He got a flyout to end the inning and kept the game scoreless. However, Frostburg State would get a pair of runs in the top of the second and a run in the third as they took a 3-0 lead. Landis would throw 5.0 innings of work, allowing six runs on 10 hits while walking two and striking out four.
Jagger Iovinelli would enter in the top of the sixth, and allowed one hit and struck out a batter before bringing the Cardinals to the plate in the bottom of the sixth. With the first two batters retired, Braden Killens would step in looking to get something started for his team. He fouled off four straight pitches to start the at-bat and sat in an 0-2 count. That is when he unloaded his second home run of the day, another solo shot over the centerfield wall, and got the Cardinals on the board to make it a 6-1 game. Josh Wessler would throw a scoreless top of the seventh, but a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh would end the day as Wheeling fell by the final score of 6-1.
It was once again Killens that led the way going 1-3 with the home run and an RBI in the effort. Killens now has 10 home runs on the season and sits just two shy of tying the Cardinal's single-season home run record, which he set a season ago. Aidan Willard also had a big day at the top of the lineup, going 2-3 while Spencer Craig delivered the final Cardinal hit of the day.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Monday, April 15th, when they host Frostburg State in games three and four of the series with first pitch at 1 PM. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
