Blufton, SC. - The Wheeling University Baseball team (1-0, 0-0) flew south for the winter to open the 2026 season when they opened a three-game set against USC Beaufort on Friday. The offense exploded in the middle innings, with a four-run fourth inning getting the Cardinals in front, and it was enough to hold off a late surge from the Landsharks as the Cardinals opened the year with an 8-5 win. Six of the nine starters for the Cardinals finished with at least one hit, while three players finished with multi-RBI efforts.
With the game sitting tied at 2-2 entering the fifth inning, the Cardinals put together a crucial four-run rally that put the game out of reach. Chris Alvarez would start the inning with a walk and stole second with one out to get into scoring position. Nicholas Schulz would drive him in with an RBI single, and the Cardinals regained the lead at 3-2. Nick Chiapetta would be hit by a pitch to put two on with one out and, after a strikeout for the second out, Chiapetta would get to scoring position on a wild pitch. Edward Mateo would walk to load the bases and Keaton Ference would follow with a two-out two-RBI single that extended the Cardinal lead to 5-2. With the bases loaded and still two outs, Luke Meyer was hit by a pitch to round out the rally, and give the Cardinals a 6-2 lead.
The success on the night would start on the mound, with Sebastian Khan taking the ball for the 2026 season opener. The senior right hander took his ace status seriously, throwing 4.0 innings of work while allowing two runs on four hits, while walking three and striking out nine batters. He would strikeout four of the first seven batters he faced, and worked his way out of traffic in both the first and second innings. His offense would get him his first run support of the day in the top of the third, when Mateo walked to start the inning, followed by Caid Heflin being hit by a pitch. With one out, Alvarez would draw a walk to load the bases and Brett Johnson drew a bases loaded walk to bring home the first Cardinal run of the day. Schulz would follow with a hit by pitch of his own, and the Cardinals headed to the bottom of the third with a 2-0 lead.
The Sandsharks would get two runs of their own in the bottom half of the inning, and the game sat tied at 2-2. Khan would finish his day allowing one base runner in the fourth, and keeping the game tied. After the Cardinals gave him the four runs of support in the top of the fifth, Jack Davidson made his Cardinal debut with back-to-back scoreless innings. Wheeling would get two key insurance runs in the top of the seventh, with Gavin Millians starting things with a single. Meyer followed with a single of his own to put runners at first and second and two batters later, Johnson stepped to the plate. The senior would come through with a two-run triple that brought both men home and gave the Cardinals an 8-2 lead with two and a half innings to play.
USC Beaufort would cut into the Cardinal lead with a run in the bottom of the seventh and two in the bottom of the eighth, bringing and end to Davidson's night. He would last 3.2 innings, allowing three runs on eight hits while striking out three. Tomoki Jitsukawa would get the final out of the eighth inning and, after allowing the leadoff man to reach on a walk to start the night, Brock Elliott was called on to get the final three outs. He would get the first batter he faced to fly out, and got a big second out with a strikeout. After allowing a walk, Elliott would finish the job with a strikeout that capped off his first save of the year and the 8-5 Cardinal win.
Leading the offensive charge for the Cardinals was Brett Johnson, who finished 1-4 with a triple and three RBI in the win. His two-run triple in the top of the seventh would be the hit that sealed the deal for the Cardinals, and he was one of three Cardinals to finish with multiple RBI. Keaton Ference would add a 1-3 day with a pair of RBI, while Nicholas Schulz went 1-4 with a run scored and a pair of RBI. The lone multi-hit effort came from Edward Mateo, who finished 2-4, reaching base four times with two walks and scoring two runs.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action for game two of their three-game set on Saturday, February 7th, with first pitch at 2 PM. You can watch the action live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
