Greentree, PA. - After weather pushed the series back a day, the Wheeling University Baseball team (12-28, 4-17) made the trip up I-79 to nearby Greentree, Pennsylvania for the first-ever Mountain East Conference (MEC) matchup with Point Park University. The Cardinals battled with the Pioneers throughout the afternoon in a pair of games that were decided by four runs or less, but fell in both halves of the twin bill to start the weekend. Point Park would earn a walk-off victory in game one, before the Cardinals were shutout over seven innings in a 4-0 loss to round out the day.
Game One: Point Park 4, Wheeling 3
Both teams would throw their aces in game one, with the Cardinals sending Wes Landis to the hill opposed by Point Park's Javier Cardoso II and the matchup lived up to the hype. Through the first three innings of the game, both pitchers would match zeros until the Cardinals would break through with two outs in the top of the fourth. Christian Boyles would keep the Cardinals alive with a two-out single and Nic Ancelet followed with a single of his own to put runners on the corners with two outs. As Dylan Maltby stepped in, Ancelet would take off for second and Christian Boyles would break for home. He would slide in under the tag of the catcher, and the Cardinals took a 1-0 lead, but Ancelet was thrown out between home and third to end the inning.
With a 1-0 advantage on his side, Landis continued his strong performance, keeping the Pioneers off the board for the first five innings of play. He allowed just four base runners through the first five innings of play, and only one hit as the Cardinals headed into the bottom of the sixth with that 1-0 lead standing. However, with one-out, a solo home run would tie the game and the Cardinals headed into the seventh with the game tied at 1-1. The Cardinals needd an answer and it would once again come via some two-out magic. Nic Ancelet would start the rally with a single and Maltby would step in once again. He would come through with a two-run home run that put the Cardinals back in front with a 3-1 lead. However, the Pioneers would get both a two-run home run and a solo shot in the bottom of the seventh as they would earn the walk-off 4-3 victory.
Despite taking the loss, Wes Landis pitched a gem on the mound, throwing 6.2 innings, giving up four runs, one earned, on five hits while walking three and striking out six. However, three of those five hits were home runs as the Pioneers got the best of the Cardinals in game one. Dylan Maltby would lead the offense, going 2-3 with a home run and two RBI in the effort. Brett Johnson, Spencer Craig, Christian Boyles, and Nicolas Ancelet would all pick up singles to round out the day.
Game Two: Point Park 4, Wheeling 0
In the second game of the day, it was once again pitching that would lead the way early as the Cardinals turned to Timoki Jitsukawa. Jitsukawa would work his way around two errors in the field and stranded three base runners through the first three innings to keep it a 0-0 game. After going 1-2-3 in the first two innings, Chris Sauer would get the Cardinal's first hit with a leadoff single in the third, and Brett Johnson added a single of his own with two outs to put runners on the corners. However, a flyout would end the inning and things still sat scoreless. Point Park would be the first ones to break through, scoring a run in the fourth and three in the fifth to take a 4-0 lead after five innings of play.
Jitsukawa's day would come to an end after 4.0+ innings as he allowed two runs on just one hit while walking two and striking out three of the 18 batters he faced on the afternoon. Matt Sanfilippo would come in for the fifth inning, and would allow a pair of runs, one earned, on one hit while walking two and striking out one. The Cardinals would get a runner on in the bottom of the sixth on a Spencer Craig single, but he would be stranded and the Cardinals headed into the bottom of the seventh still trailing 4-0. The Cardinals would send three batters to the plate in that top of the seventh, but all three were retired to bring the game to its final score of 4-0.
The Cardinals would get four hits in the contest, but were unable to push across a run on the day. Brett Johnson would get the only hit with a runner on base, finishing 1-3 with his single that put runners on the corners in the top of the fourth. The other three Cardinal hits would come from three different players with Spencer Craig, Dylan Maltby, and Chris Saur all getting in the hit column in the effort. Ethan Wendell would throw the final inning for the Cardinals, allowing one hit while walking one and striking out two.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action for games three and four of their series with Point Park on Monday, April 28th, with first pitch at 1 PM.
