Wheeling, W. Va. - The Mountain East Conference (MEC) Baseball schedule is in full swing and the Wheeling University Baseball team (13-6, 2-2) is in the thick of the MEC South portion of the schedule. The team heads south for a pair of weekend doubleheaders this week as they look to get their conference record over the .500 mark. They start the weekend on Saturday when they travel to West Virginia Wesleyan at 1 PM, followed by a Sunday doubleheader against Davis & Elkins with first pitch at 1 PM.
The Cardinals are coming off their MEC opening weekend in which they split with the University of Charleston and West Virginia State. The weekend started against the Golden Eagles in a pair of games that went back and forth at EQT Park. In game one, Charleston struck first and, despite a few answers from the Cardinals including a two-run bottom of the sixth, Wheeling would drop the weekend opener 4-3. It was a different dynamic in game two, with Wheeling striking first and Charleston answering, but the Cardinal bats held off the Golden Eagles in a 9-8 win. The second day of the weekend would welcome in West Virginia State in a pair of extra inning contests. The Cardinals would earn the walk-off winner in game one at the hands of a bases loaded walk, but game two saw West Virginia State put two up in the top of the eighth. The 4-3 Cardinal win would be balanced out by a 4-2 Yellow Jackets win as they finished the weekend 2-2.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was strong pitching throughout the week, with the strongest effort once again coming from Brock Elliott. Elliott continued his string of 15.0 straight innings without giving up an earned run, throwing 4.0 innings against West Virginia State. He would be tagged for his first run of the season, going as unearned, on two hits while walking one and striking out two. He started the day throwing a scoreless top of the eighth for the Cardinals in the 4-3 win over West Virginia State and came back out to start game two. There, he would throw 3.0 innings allowing just the one unearned run on two hits while walking one and striking out two. Elliott is one of three Cardinal pitchers that enter the weekend with a 0.00 ERA and is the only one of those pitchers to throw more than 1.1 innings. He has been charged with just the one unearned run through 15 innings and looks to continue being a solid piece to the rotation.
Adding to the strong pitching performance during the week was redshirt sophomore Dom Carlson, who started game one against the Yellow Jackets. Carlson got into some trouble early, allowing a leadoff triple followed by a balk, but was able to settle in after that. He would end up throwing 5.0 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits while walking one and striking out five. It moved his season ERA to 2.86, giving the Cardinals three of their four weekend starters a sub 2.00 ERA. On the offensive side, it was senior Gavin Millians coming through in the clutch, finishing the weekend 5-10 (.500) with a run scored and three RBI. Against West Virginia State, he would be the one to send the game to overtime both times with a pair of game tying hits, both being singles up the middle.
As they enter their second weekend of MEC play, the Cardinals are looking to get the top offense in the MEC back in track. The Cardinals enter the weekend leading the conference with a .317 batting average, 16 home runs, and 112 RBI through 19 games. Their team batting average sits 14 points higher than the next closest team, while driving in eight more runs than the next closest team. They have backed a pitching staff that holds the fourth lowest ERA in the conference at 5.43 while walking the third fewest batters at 70. Both groups are looking to work in tandem to get the Cardinals their first winning weekend in conference play. They have two more weekends of MEC South play before jumping into their MEC North Division schedule, and Wheeling looks to get hot heading into April.
The Matchups
West Virginia Wesleyan: The Cardinals and Bobcats are meeting for the 39th and 40th times in program history on Saturday, with West Virginia Wesleyan leading the all-time series at 21-17. The home team has faired better all-time, with the Bobcats holding a 9-4 advantage in Buckhannon, while Wheeling holds a 12-9 advantage at home. The Cardinals are looking to break a three-game skid against West Virginia Wesleyan, after the Bobcats swept the seaosn series a year ago. That meeting came on March 22nd, 2025, with West Virginia Wesleyan taking gam one 2-1 and game two 3-2. Game one was led by pitching, with former Cardinal Jaden Wilcox allowing two runs in 7.0 innings of work, while Chris Sauer led the game two effort, going 1-3 with a double and two RBI.
Davis & Elkins: The Cardinals and Senators are meeting for the 26th and 27th times in program history, with Wheeling leading the series at 17-8. Wheeling has played better in Elkins, West Virginia, going 10-2 in 12 previous meetings, winning five of the last six road games against the Senators. The Cardinals average 6.44 runs per game in the all-time series, and have won 10 of the last 11 meetings between the two teams. The last meeting came on March 23rd, 2025, with Davis & Elkins winning game one 11-2, before Wheeling came back for the 1-0 win in game two. Former Cardinal Spencer Craig led the way in game one, finishing 1-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Sebastian Khan led the game two effort with a complete game shutout, allowing two hits and striking out seven.
The Details
First pitch for Saturday's weekend opener at West Virginia Wesleyan is scheduled for 1 PM inside Hank Ellis field on the campus of West Virginia Wesleyan. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
