Wheeling, W. Va. - After earning a split of the day to start the weekend against The University of Charleston, the Wheeling University Baseball team (13-6, 2-2) was looking to win the weekend when they welcomed in West Virginia State on Saturday. The Cardinals and Yellow Jackets would end up playing 16 innings of baseball across the two games, and Wheeling would earn a split of the weekend, going 1-1 at EQT Park. It started with a 4-3 Walk-off win for the Cardinals in game one, before West Virginia State picked up a 4-2 extra-inning win in the second game.
Game One: Wheeling 4, West Virginia State 3 (8 Inn.)
In game one, West Virginia State would get things started with a bang when Michael Bittinger led off the game with a triple. He would come home to score on a balk on the very next pitch, and the Cardinals found themselves down 1-0 after half an inning. After being held off the board in the bottom of the first, the Cardinals would take their turn in the bottom of the second. Kalayo Shaw would be hit by a pitch to start the inning, and used his legs to get to third base, stealing second and advancing to thrid on a throwing error from the catcher. Nicholas Schulz would step in and brought him home with a sacrifice fly that tied the game at 1-1. After giving up that lone run in the first, Carlson settled down over the next two innings, throwing back-to-back zeros, before the Yellow Jackets took the lead again thanks to an RBI single in the top of the fourth.
It was Wheeling's turn to respond, and it was once again Shaw who got things going with a one-out single. Schulz would step in and hit a slow ground ball to short and used his legs to get down the line and beat out the throw. It would end up sailing over the first baseman's head, allowing Schulz to get to second and Shaw to come all the way around to score to tie the game at 2-2. However, West Virginia State got that run right back in the top of the fifth thanks to an RBI single from Brodie Guenther, and the Cardinals found themselves down one again 3-2. It closed the book on Carlson, who threw 5.0 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits, while walking one and striking out five. The Cardinal bullpen was lights out the rest of the way, with Mason Fenwick, Jacob Dukate, and Brock Elliott combining to throw 3.0 scoreless innings to close out the night.
Wheeling would find themselves down 3-2 with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, and Schulz would get things started with his second infield hit of the day. Brett Johnson followed with a single of his own, and Gavin Millians lined an 0-2 pitch up the middle to score Schulz and tie the game at 3-3. That would be the score after seven inning were completed and the teams went to extra innings. Elliott would come in to pitch the eighth and walked a batter before retiring the side to keep it a 3-3 game. In the bottom of the eight, Luke Meyer got things started with a single and a wild pitch moved pinch runner Nick Chiappetta to second. Shaw and Schulz would draw back-to-back walks to load the bases still with nobody out. It brought up Brett Johnson with the bases loaded and he drew the bases loaded walk to earn the walk-off 4-3 victory for the Cardinals.
Leading the game one effort for the Cardinals was Nicholas Schulz, who finished 2-2 with an RBI and a run scored on the day. He would play a part in three of the four Cardinal runs in the effort, and has adapted well to his spot at first base. Brett Johnson got the walk-off winner, going 1-3 with a walk and an RBI, while Gavin Millians added the game tying hit with a 1-3 effort with an RBI in the #7 spot. With the walk-off in game one, the Cardinals were looking for the sweep of the day in game two.
Game Two: West Virginia State 4, Wheeling 2 (8 Inn.)
As he did a week ago, Brock Elliott would get the game two start after coming in to finish the first game of a doubleheader. He took the ball in game two for the Cardinals and retired the side 1-2-3 in the top of the first. However, Jared Nethercutt took the ball for West Virginia State and was just as effective, retiring the side 1-2-3 in the Cardinal half of the first. The first base runner of the game would come courtesy of a Angel Oquendo walks for the Yellow Jackets, but the Cardinals struck first in the bottom of the second. Caid Heflin would single to start the inning and Nicholas Schulz walked to put runners at first and second with nobody out. Two batters later, the Cardinals would take advantage of a Yellow Jacket error, allowing Heflin to score and the Cardinals earned a 1-0 win.
West Virginia State got the run back in the top of the third, thanks to an RBI double from Aidan Paulsen, and the game sat tied at 1-1. Â That run was the only one allowed for Elliott, who threw 3.0 innings allowing just the one unearned run on two hits while walking one and striking out two. Logan Stalbird would relieve him and throw 2.0 scoreless innings, before West Virginia State got to Tomoki Jitsukawa in the top of the sixth. They took a 2-1 lead on a sacrifice fly from Oquendo and the Cardinals would head into their final at-bat trailing 2-1 and needing a big moment. Keaton Ference would get the inning started with a single and a sacrifice bunt moved him into scoring position. Gavin Millians would be called on as a pinch hitter and for the second time in as many games, tied the game with an RBI single up the middle to make it 2-2.
At the end of seven innings, the game remained tied at 2-2, and for the second game in a row the two teams went to extra innings. This time, West Virginia State would strike for two in the top of the eighth when Garret Wagoner stepped in and lined a two-RBI double to center field. The Yellow Jackets led 4-2 heading to the bottom of the eighth, and the Cardinals got a runner in scoring positiion with a double from Heflin. However, a fly out and a groundout would bring the game to an end and the Cardinals fell 4-2. It earned them a split of the day and a split of the weekend as they went 2-2 against Charleston and West Virginia State.
Gavin Millians would lead the way in game two, finishing 1-1 with a single and an RBI to lead the effort. His RBI would come in the game's biggest moment, tying things in the bottom of the seventh. Caid Heflin would add two hits of his own, finishing 2-4 with a double, while Edward Mateo added a 3-4 effort at the top of the lineup.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Tuesday, March 17th, when they travel to CAL-U with first pitch at 1 PM.
