Game One: Wheeling 1, Davis & Elkins 0

Game one was a classic pitcher's duel as Wheeling's Sebastian Khan battled Davis & Elkins's Isaac Lane, with both offenses accounting for just one run in the effort. Khan would be making his second start of the season for the Cardinals and got things started strong with back-to-back strikeouts, before getting the final out to complete the scoreless frame. He would come back with his first 1-2-3 inning in the top of the second and the Cardinal offense would break through in the bottom half of the inning. Nic Ancelet would be the first base runner for the Cardinals, and he moved into scoring position with a stolen base. A fly out would move the runner to third and Nicholas Schultz would bring him home with an RBI single that got the Cardinals out to a 1-0 lead.

With the lead on his side, Khan continued to work on the mound, setting down the next eight batters he faced. He put together back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the third and fourth innings, and got the first two outs of the fifth before allowing a two-out single. The runner was quickly erased on a ground ball to shortstop and with 4.5 innings in the books, the Cardinals held on to a 1-0 lead. He would follow that up with a 1-2-3 top of the sixth and would be sent back out to complete the effort in the top of the seventh. He would end the game the way he started it with a 1-2-3 top of the seventh, ending the game on a groundout to shortstop. The Cardinals picked up their first win of the weekend.

It was the first career complete game for Sebastian Khan, who finished throwing all 7.0 innings, allowing just two hits while striking out seven on the day. He would just allow two hits in the effort and only one of those hits leaving the infield. Lane was just as effective for the Senators, allowing two hits by two different Cardinal batters on the day. Leading the charge was Nicholas Schultz, who finished 1-2 and drove in the only Cardinal run on the day with an RBI single. The other Cardinal hit would come courtesy of Nic Ancelet, who would finish 1-2 with a stolen base and a run scored in the effort. The Cardinals would look for their first MEC sweep of the season as they headed into game two.

Game Two: Davis & Elkins 11, Wheeling 2

After pitching ruled the day in game one, it was the Davis & Elkins offense that made an early statement in game 2. The Senators struck for a run in the top of the first and added two more in the top of the second to take a 3-0 lead. Head Coach Ryan Lewicki would make a call to the bullpen, bringing in Mason Fenwick who was able to shut things down. The Junior would give the Cardinals 3.0 scoreless innings just one hit and striking out a batter. He would face just three batters in the top of the Third, erasing a leadoff single on a double play, and added a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth to round out his strong outing. However, Davis & Elkins's starter Cooper Blackburn was able to keep the Cardinal offense at bay, throwing 5.0 shut out innings allowing just three hits while walking two and striking out two.

It wasn't until the bottom of the sixth that Wheeling's offense would break through after Davis & Elkins struck for four runs in the top of the inning. With the Cardinals trailing 7-0, Nicholas Schultz got things started with a single to third and advanced to second on a throwing error. With a runner in scoring position and nobody out Spencer Craig stepped to the plate and got the Cardinals on the board. Craig would send a two run home run over the left field wall to make it a 7-2 ball game. However, that was the only offense for the Cardinals in the inning and the Senators put it out of reach with a four run top of the 7th to make it an 11-2 game. Michael Norton would pinch hit to start the bottom of the 7th and walked, but the next three Cardinal hitters were retired to bring the game to its final score of 11-2. 

Leading the way for the Cardinals was senior Spencer Craig who went 1-4 with his first home run of the season. He currently sits third on the team with a .286 batting average while leading the team with 13 RBI. Nicholas Schultz delivered the lone multi-hit game for the Cardinals, finishing 2-4 with a run scored to bring his season average to .293. the other four cardinal hits came from four different players with Connor Wong, Chris Sauer, Keaton Ferrence, and Jaylen Raysor each getting one hit on the day. 

The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Thursday, March 27th, when they host Bluefield State with first pitch at 3 PM.