Washington, PA. – For the second time this season, the Wheeling University Baseball team (8-17, 2-10) met CAL-U at EQT Park in Washington, Pennsylvania on Tuesday. It was another offensive battle with the two teams combining to score 25 runs across the nine innings of play. After starting strong, the CardinalsWould come out on the losing end falling 15-10 and moved to 8-17 on the season.
It would be the leadoff hitter Christian Boyles who got things started with a triple to put the team in business. Two batters later Keaton Ference would get his big day started with an RBI single to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. Nicolas Ancelet would reach on a fielder's choice before stealing second to put a runner at second with two outs. Dylan Maltby would draw a walk before Nicholas Schulz doubled home Ancelet to make it a 2-0 Wheeling lead. Brock Elliott would get the start for the Cardinals and, after loading the bases on three hit by pitches, he was able to get a flyout to end the inning. After getting the scoring started in the top of the first, it would be Ference that extended the lead in the top of the second.
After back-to-back strikeouts to start the inning, Boyles would reach on an error to get the rally started. Spencer Craig would draw a walk to bring Ference to the plate with two on and two outs. He would lift a three-run home run to left field to give the Cardinals a 5-0 lead. lead. The Vulcans answered with four runs in the bottom of the second, including a three-run home run of their own, and it would be a 5-4 game heading into the third. CAL-U would tie the game with a run in the bottom of the third, but the Cardinals were able to take it back the next half inning. Josh Rush would walk to start the inning and got all the way to Third on a wild pitch with nobody out. Boyles would bring him home on a sacrifice fly to put the Cardinals ahead 6-5. Craig would follow with a home run and by the bottom of the fourth Wheeling held a 7-5 lead.
The offensive surge continued in the bottom of the fourth with the Vulcans once again tying the game with two runs. It remained a 7-7 game until the bottom of the 6th when a lead off home run sparked CAL-U for two more runs that gave them a 9-7 lead. Chris Sauer tacked on another Cardinal run with a home run in the top of the eighth to make it 9-8, but CAL-U, got the insurance they needed with a six-run bottom of the eighth. Wheeling would continue to battle in the top of the ninth as Craig started things with a single. A wild pitch would advance him to second and Ference added a double that moved him to third. Craig would score on a ground out by Ancelet and a sacrifice fly from Dylan Maltby would bring home Wheeling's final run of the game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough as Wheeling fell 15-10 to round out the season series.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Keaton Ference, who finished 3-5 with a double, a home run, and four RBI. It was his third home run in the last six games as he has proven to be a power threat in the number three hole. Spencer Craig and Nicolas Ancelet would each added multi hit games and an RBI, with Craig finishing 2-3 with two walks and a home run while Ancelet went 2-5. In total, eight different Cardinals finished with at least one RBI in the effort as the Cardinals hit double figures against the Vulcans for the second time this season.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Saturday, April 5th, when they take on Salem in doubleheader action at 1 PM.
