Charleston, W. Va. - It was day two from GoMart Ballpark in Charleston, West Virginia as the Wheeling University Baseball team (5-3, 0-0) played the final two games of their three-game series against Mansfield. The two teams would end up playing 17 innings of baseball between the two games, with a walk-off winner in game one highlighting a split of the day. The walk-off would come in a 6-5 10 inning win for the Cardinals in game one, before the Mountaineers came back with a 6-2 win in game two as Wheeling dropped two of three against Mansfield.
Game One: Wheeling 6, Mansfield 5 (10 Innings)
Game one saw the Cardinals send their ace Sebastian Khan to the mound, but Mansfield would get to the senior early. He would give up a lead-off double and surrendered three first inning runs as the Cardinals fell behind 3-0 early. However, after the early struggles, Khan settled in with a 1-2-3 top of the second, and his offense would begin the come from behind effort in the bottom of the inning. Luke Meyer would walk to start the inning, and Nicholas Schulz would end up bringing him around. He would find the left field corner for an RBI double as Meyer came all the way around from first to make it a 3-1 game. Schulz would end up being stranded in scoring position, but the strong Mountaineer offense kept things going. They would tack on two runs in the top of the third and after three innings, Wheeling would trail 5-1.
Khan would once again settle things down with a 1-2-3 top of the fourth, and the comeback trail began for the Cardinals. It was Meyer that once again started the Cardinal offense with a single, and Schulz followed behind with a walk to put runners at first and second with one out. Noah Gutierrez would step up and picked up his man in scoring position with an RBI single that scored Meyer and made it a 5-2 game. Noah Gutierrez would step in an rolled a ground ball to third, but the Cardinals took advantage of a Mountaineer error that allowed Schulz to come around and score to make it a 5-3 game. Khan would throw up another zero in the top of the fifth, and the Cardinal offense went right back to work in the bottom half. Edward Mateo started things with a one out double and Kalayo Shaw would immediately bring him in with a single to make it a 5-4 game. Brett Johnson would follow with a double and Shaw came all the way around from third to tie the game up at 5-5.
With the game back to 0-0, Khan would finish his day with a 1-2-3 sixth inning and eclipsed the 100 pitch mark getting the first two outs of the seventh. Brock Elliott would come on to get the final out of the inning, and Khan would finish his day throwing 6.2 innings, allowing five runs, one earned, on seven hits while striking out six batters. In the bottom of the seventh, the Cardinals would be retired 1-2-3 and the game would head to extra innings. After getting the last out of the seventh, Elliott was dominate in relief, throwing 2.1 innings allowing one hit while walking one and striking out one batter. Wheeling would threaten in the bottom of the ninth, getting a runner to scoring position, but were unable to push them around. Kyle Binder would come on and threw a scoreless 10th, and the Cardinals would head to the bat racks in the bottom half. A leadoff single for Meyer started the inning and an error and an intentional walk loaded the bases. It brought up Griffin Pickhardt with the bases loaded, and he would be hit by a pitch for the walk-off 6-5 win.
Leading the way for the Cardinals in game one was Luke Meyer, who finished 2-4 with a pair of runs scored and a walk in the effort. He would start each of the three offensive outbursts for the Cardinals, including the 10th inning rally that won the game. Five different Cardinals would finish with an RBI in the game, led by a 2-5 effort from Kayalo Shaw with an RBI. Brett Johnson, Nicholas Schulz, Noah Gutierrez, and Griffin Pickhardt would each drive in runs to round out the offense for the Cardinals. They headed into the second game with a chance to win the weekend with a doubleheader sweep.
Game Two: Mansfield 6, Wheeling 2
After playing 10 innings in game one, what was supposed to be a nine-inning game in game two was shortened to a seven-inning affair. Wheeling was riding high after the walk-off win, and sent Dom Carlson to the mound for the third game of the series. He allowed runners to advance to first and third in the first inning, but worked out of it with the game sitting at 0-0. After the Cardinals were retired 1-2-3 in their half of the first, Mansfield would strike first on a solo home run by Evan Laredo that made it a 1-0 game. That home run would be the lone standing run through the first three innings, and Mansfield head to the fourth with a 1-0 lead. That home run would be the only blemish on Carlson's day and he added a 1-2-3 top of the fourth before his offense got going.
Nicholas Schulz would get things started with a one-out double, and Kale Wilkins would reach with a two-out walk to put runners at first and second. After picking up the walk-off hit by pitch in game one, Griffin Pickhardt would get the first RBI of game two with a single that brought home Schulz and made it a 1-1 game. However, the tie game would not last long as Mansfield added three runs in the top of the fifth, and made it a 4-1 game. Carlson would not retire a batter in the inning, before giving way to Jack Davidson. Carlson would finish the day allowing three runs, two earned, over 4.1 innings while walking one and striking out four. Davidson would give up a run without retiring a batter, while walking two, before Chris Sauer came on to get the final two outs of the inning while walking a batter.
The Cardinals would end up using seven pitchers on the day, with Elijah Stark, Tyler Mendez, Jacob Dukate, and Lamont Akins throwing the final two innings of work. Stark, Dukate, and Akins would all throw scoreless outings, but two runs in the top of the seventh for Mansfield made it a 6-1 game heading to the bottom of the seventh. The Cardinals would put together one last chance effort to complete a comeback, with Noah Gutierrez getting things started with a pinch hit walk. Edward Mateo would single to put runners on first and second with no outs, and those runners would move to second and third with one out after a groundout by Caid Heflin. Luke Meyer would step in abd birng one run home with a sacrifice fly, but a strikeout would bring the game to an end. Wheeling dropped the final 6-2 and finished the weekend 1-2 on the three-game stretch.
Leading the game two effort for the Cardinals was Griffin Pickhardt, finished 2-3 with an RBI in the effort. He would put together the game-winning at-bat in the first game, and followed it up with a multi-hit effort in game two. Luke Meyer would drive in the other RBI, while Edward Mateo finished 2-4 to round out the day. It was the first weekend loss for the Cardinals this season as they look to bounce back next weekend on the road.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Friday, February 27th, when they open a three-game series against Carolina U at 5 PM.
