Wheeling, W. Va. – After Wheeling University celebrated Graduation Saturday, the Wheeling University Baseball team was back on the field Sunday for their regular season finale. The Cardinals would split the day, winning the resumed game from Friday 7-1, before falling in extra innings in their regular season finale 5-4. The Hilltoppers ended winning the three-game series 2-1 as the Cardinals finish the regular season 14-33 overall and 5-2 in MEC Play
Game 1 (Resumes from Friday) Wheeling 7, West Liberty 1
After storms halted game two of Friday's doubleheader, the game was resumed on Sunday in the bottom of the third with one out and the Cardinals leading 5-1. Jacob Lentz would step in to leadoff the game and he would hit into an inning-ending double play that kept it 5-1 after three innings of play. Tomoki Jitsukawa's line would officially come to an end in the top of the fourth as his official final line would read 3.0 innings allowing one run on three hits while striking out a batter. With the game being suspended Sebastian Khan would get the call from the bullpen and was solid over the game's final four innings. He would allow just one batter to reach in the fourth via a walk and would begin a strong day. Khan would not allow a run over his four innings while allowing three hits, walking three, and striking out four.
After both teams were held off the board in the fourth, the Cardinals would get going in the bottom of the fifth. Nicolas Ancelet would start things off with a walk and Christian Boyles stepped in. Boyles, who tripled twice over the first three innings on Friday night, would add his third triple of the game. A celet would come around to score from first and Wheeling extended their lead to 6-1. After a groundout to first, Chris Sauer would lift a fly ball to left field and Boyles would come home to make it a 7-2 Cardinal advantage. That score would remain in the top of the seventh inning, and the Hilltoppers tried to mount a comeback. Ryan Talbert would reach on a single to start the inning and a flyout would pick up the first out of the inning. Khan would then get a 4-6-3 double play to end the game and give the Cardinals the 7-1 win.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Christian Boyles, who finished 3-3 with three triples, four RBI, and two runs scored. He would account for three of the four extra base hits on the day for the Cardinals and finished out a strong day. Spencer Craig got the scoring started with a home run, finishing 1-4 with a home run and an RBI, his second home run of the series. Nicholas Schulz would finish 1-2 with an RBI, while Chris Sauer added the other RBI to round out the day. After the coaches convened, they agreed to play one nine-inning game to finish out "The Battle for Wheeling."
Game Two: West Liberty 5, Wheeling 4 (10 Inn.)
With the final game of the day being a nine-inning affair, the winner would take home the inner city rivalry cup, a traveling cup between the two teams. Wheeling's offense got out to a strong start with Brett Johnson singling to start the game and Spencer Craig drawing a walk. A Fielder's Choice by Keaton Ference would retire the lead runner at third and the Cardinals would have runners at first and second with one out. Nicolas Ancelet would step in and brought home the first run of the game with an RBI single that scored Craig and made it a 1-0 Cardinal lead. The Cardinals would strand those two runners, but Jaden Wilcox would get the start and finish the year strong. He would throw 6.0 shutout innings on the day, allowing just two hits, while walking one and striking out four.
After the Hilltoppers allowed the early run, they called on reliever Chase Lautner, who threw 5.2 innings in relief. The only run he allowed came in the top of the third after Ference got into scoring position with a one-out double. Ancelet followed with a single that advanced runners to the corners, and a fielder's choice would allow the second Cardinal run to score as Ference came home and gave Wheeling a 2-0 lead. Wilcox would retire the first eight Hilltoppers he faced, before allowing a two-out single in the bottom of the third. He never had more than one runner on base in any inning, and after six innings of play, the Cardinals held a 2-0 lead. West Liberty would get their first run of the game in the bottom of the seventh and Wheeling maintained their 2-1 advantage.
However, in the bottom of the eighth, the Hilltoppers offense broke out, scoring three runs and taking a 4-2 lead heading to the top of the ninth. The Cardinals would be down to their final out and the Cardinals would get new life. Ancelet would reach on a two-out single and stole second to get into scoring position. Christian Boyles would step in and tied the game with a two-out, two run home run, that tied things at 4-4. It sent the game to the 10th inning, where the Cardinals loaded the bases with nobody out. Dylan Maltby walked, Jacob Lentz singled, and Jalen Raysor was intentionally walked, before Lentz was pinch ran for by Connor Wong. However, the next three batters were retired and the game remained tied 4-4 heading to the bottom of the inning and the Hilltoppers would walk it off in the bottom half to pick-up a 5-4 win.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Boyles, who came through in the clutch with the two-out, two-run home run. He finished 1-4 with a home run and three RBI on the day and finished with four extra base hits in the final two games of the season. Nicolas Ancelet would drive in the final Cardinals run, finishing 3-4 with an RBI, while Jalen Raysor and Keaton Ference each had multi-hit days, with Raysor going 2-3 and Ference going 2-6.
The Wheeling University Baseball team now heads into the off-season as they look to continue to grow towards 2026.
