Frostburg, MD – After falling in both halves of the doubleheader on Sunday, the Wheeling University Baseball team (9-24, 2-14) was looking for a bounce back on Monday. The Cardinal bats broke out in game one, but it wasn't enough as they ended up dropping both halves of the doubleheader for the weekend sweep. The Cardinals put up eight runs in game one, before falling 17-8, and they came back in game two to drop the final game of the series 9-0.
Game One: Frostburg State 17, Wheeling 8
After a pair of games ruled by pitching on day one, it would be the bats that broke out for the second day of the series. Sebastian Khan would take the hill for the Cardinals and after throwing a scoreless first inning, the Bobcats came out and scored six runs over the second and third innings as they took a 6-0 lead. Wheeling would break through in the top of the fourth as Brett Johnson started things off with a single. He would steal second to get into scoring position, and with one out Keaton Ference would draw a walk. Both runners would move up on a groundout to third and Chris Sauer would step in. Sauer came through with a two RBI single and Wheeling cut into the Frostburg State lead, making it a 6-2 game.
However, in the bottom of the fifth the Frostburg State offense would take off, scoring 10 runs and ballooning the lead to 16-2 in favor of the Bobcats. Wheeling would respond in the bottom half of the inning as Johnson was hit by a pitch and Spencer Craig singled to move runners to first and third with nobody out. Ference would step in and lifted a sacrifice fly to left that scored Johnson and made it a 16-3 game. After a Nicolas Ancelet walk, a wild pitch moved two runners into scoring position, and another wild pitch would bring Craig home and the Cardinals cut into the lead, making it 16-4. Frostburg State pushed across one more run in the bottom of the sixth and the Cardinals had a mountain to climb in the top of the seventh, trailing 17-4.
Kaden Shields would step in to start the inning and singled before Cade Lacy was hit by a pitch to put two on and nobody out. Jacob Lentz would be called on to pinch hit and lined a two-run double to Right field and the Cardinals made it a 17-6 game. Connor Wong would then get called on to pinch hit and came through with an RBI single that scored Lentz and made it a 17-7 game. Ancelet would replace Wong on a fielder's choice and back-to-back hit by pitches would load the bases with two outs. Dylan Maltby would then step in and single home a run, but Nicholas Schulz would be thrown out between first and second to bring the game to its final score of 17-8.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Chris Sauer who drove home the first runs of the game and finished 1-3 with two RBI. The other multi-RBI performance came from Jacob Lentz, who finished 1-1 with two RBI and a double in his lone punch hit opportunity. Connor Wong, Keaton Ference, and Dylan Maltby would each drove in runs to finish out the day. Maltby would be the lone multi-hit effort, going 2-4 with an RBI as the Cardinals would try to bounce back in game two.
Game Two: Frostburg State 9, Wheeling 0
In the final game of the series, it would be Mason Fenwick getting the start for the Cardinals and early on he was cruising on the mound. After allowing a solo home run to lead off the game, he would hold the Bobcats scoreless the rest of the inning and added a 1-2-3 bottom of the second to keep it a 1-0 game. Frostburg State would add another run in the bottom of the third on another home run and the Bobcats would take a 2-0 lead. Meanwhile, the Cardinals had one hit through the first three innings, courtesy of a two-out single by Christian Boyles. In the top of the fourth, Spencer Craig would get things started with a leadoff single and he would get into scoring position with a two-out Nicolas Ancelet single. However, they would be stranded there and the Cardinals trailed 2-0 after four.
The top of the fifth would start in a similar way as Jalen Raysor singled to start the inning. Jacob Lentz added a bunt single to put two on and Seth Floyd added a sacrifice bunt that put runners at second and third with one out. However, back-to-back strikeouts would keep it a 2-0 game in favor of the Bobcats. However, the big inning for Frostburg State would come in the bottom of the fifth when Frostburg State piled on seven runs to take a 9-0 lead. Zach Dellerman would come on in relief and threw a scoreless sixth inning, but the Cardinals would go 1-2-3 in both the sixth and seventh innings and brought the game to its final score of 9-0.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Christian Boyles, who finished 1-2 with a single on the day. Spencer Craig, Jalen Raysor, and Jacob Lentz would all each add singles of their own, going 1-3 on the day, with all four hits on the day being singles. Matt Sanfilippo and Zach Dellerman would be the two pitchers to throw scoreless frames, with Sanfilippo going 0.1 scoreless, allowing a hit, while Dellerman threw a scoreless sixth inning allowing one hit of his own.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Wednesday, April 16th, when they take on Seton Hill with first pitch at 3 PM.
