Wheeling, W. Va. - The Wheeling University Baseball team (13-32, 4-21) hosted West Liberty in the annual "The Battle for Wheeling" Friday night in primetime. The teams would get the first game of the doubleheader in, with West Liberty winning a 9-7 offensive showdown and began to play into the second game. However, with lightning in the area and rain shortly behind it, game two was suspended in the Bottom of the third with one out and the Cardinals leading 5-1. The game will be resumed on Sunday, May 4th, when the team's travel to West Liberty for the series finale.
Game One: West Liberty 9, Wheeling 7
Game one of "The Battle for Wheeling" was all about the offense as both teams got the scoring started early. Wes Landis would get the ball to start the Cardinal's senior day doubleheader, and West Liberty would tag him for a pair of runs in the top of the second. The Cardinals would come to the bat racks and get one of those back with one out in the bottom of the first. Spencer Craig stepped up with nobody on and one out and launched a solo home run over the right field wall to cut the Hilltopper lead to 2-1. The Cardinals would threaten to tie the game with Nicolas Ancelet reaching on a two-out triple, but he would be stranded there to end the inning. Over the next two innings, the Hilltopper offense would continue their roll, scoring two in the top of the second and five in the top of the third as they built a 9-1 lead.
The Cardinals would have to battle at the plate and did just that, starting with the bottom of the third. Brett Johnson would reach on an error and would end up at third after a wild pitch and an errant pick-off throw. He was still there with two outs and Ancelet would come through, beating out an infield single as the Cardinals made it a 9-2 game. After allowing the early runs, Landis bounced back in the top of the fourth with a 1-2-3 inning, and the Cardinals built on the momentum. Christian Boyles and Ancelet would reach on back-to- back singles and Dylan Maltby got on after an error on his sacrifice bunt attempt. It brought Chris Sauer to the plate with the bases loaded and one out and he sent a towering grand slam to right center field that cut the Hilltopper lead to 9-6.
The Cardinals would get Johnson to scoring position in the inning, but he would be stranded there and the score sat at 9-6. Wheeling got one more in the bottom of the fifth as Ancelet and Boyles got things going again with back-to-back singles. Nicholas Schulz would lay down a sacrifice bunt and Ancelet beat the throw to third to load the bases with nobody out. Jacob Lentz would bring the runner home, drawing a bases loaded walk and the score sat at 9-7 after five innings. The Cardinal bullpen held things down, with Ethan Wendell throwing 2.0 scoreless innings, allowing a walk and striking out two, while Matt Sanfilippo struck out two batters in his inning of work in the seventh. The Cardinals would threaten in the bottom of the seventh, loading the bases with one out, but back-to-back strikeouts would end the game at 9-7.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Chris Sauer, who was 1-4 but made his hit count. He delivered the grand slam in the bottom of the fourth that made it a three-run game and gave the Cardinals a chance to battle back. Nicolas Ancelet added a 3-4 day with an RBI in the clean-up spot, and Spencer Craig went 1-4 with a home run and an RBI. The final RBI came courtesy of Jacob Lentz, who went 0-2 with a walk, and Christian Boyles added a 3-4 day to round out the lineup
Game Two: Wheeling 5, West Liberty 1 (Bot 3rd, 1 Out)
After a senior day ceremony honoring the Cardinal's nine seniors mid game, that senior group would lead the way to start game two. After Tomoki Jitsukawa allowed a leadoff double in the first, he would strand the runner on base and the offense went to work. Spencer Craig stepped in with one out and sent a moonshot over the left center field wall and the Cardinals took an early 1-0 lead. With two outs, Nicolas Ancelet was hit by a pitch and Christian Boyles drove him home with a triple to right field, his second triple of the day. The Cardinals headed into the second with a 2-0 lead, and Jitsukawa delivered his second scoreless inning of the day. West Liberty made it a 2-1 game in the top of the third, but the Cardinals bats were right back to work in the bottom half.
Keaton Ference began the inning with a single and an infield single by Ancelet, followed by a Hilltopper throwing error moved runners to second and third. It was once again Christian Boyles to the plate and he once again found a gap, tripling down the right field line. It would bring home both runners and put a runner on third with no outs for Nicholas Schultz. Schultz would come through, lining a single to right and Boyles scored to make it 5-1 Cardinals. After a strikeout, Jacob Lentz was making his way to the plate before the field was cleared for lightning. After a short deliberation between the coaches and umpires, it was determined that the game would be halted and resumed on Sunday.
The Cardinals and Hilltoppers will pick up game two of their series and play games three and four on Sunday, May 3rd, with first pitch to be determined.
