Buckhannon, W. Va. – The second weekend of Mountain East Conference (MEC) South crossover play kicked off Saturday as the Wheeling University Baseball team (15-6, 4-2) traveled to Buckhannon, West Virginia. The starting pitching produced two quality starts, and the bats were there to back them up in the doubleheader sweep of West Virginia Wesleyan. It was a late game rally that led the Cardinals to a 7-3 game one win, before they carried that momentum into an 8-4 game two win to complete the sweep.
Game One: Wheeling 7, West Virginia Wesleyan 3
The Cardinals would turn to their ace Sebastian Khan in game one, and the bats got him a lead before he even took the mound. Kalayo Shaw and Brett Johnson would reach on back-to-back singles to start the top of the first. Two batters later, Gavin Millians stepped to the plate with two in scoring position and brought both runners home with an RBI single. It gave the Cardinals ace a 2-0 lead as he took the mound, and he responded with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first. He would end up retiring first six batters he faced before an error and a single started the bottom of the third. It would result in a three-run bottom of the third for the Bobcats as they took a 3-2 lead over the Cardinals. After allowing the two early runs, Bobcat starter Drake Long settled in nicely throwing up three straight zeros to keep West Virginia Wesleyan ahead 3-2 heading into the 5th inning.
Wheeling would have four base runners during that stretch, and finally broke through in the top of 5th. After a fly out to start the inning, Edward Mateo would get things going with a one out single. It would once again be Millians stepping to the plate and he would shoot a ball down the right field line to bring Mateo home from first. However, he would be thrown out trying to get into scoring position, And the game would remain tied at 3-3. With a new ball game now on the scoreboard both starters threw a scoreless 6th inning and it came down to the 7th. Shaw would be the catalyst singling to start that top of the 7th and the Cardinal bats took it from there. Johnson would pick up the first RBI of the inning when he doubled to bring home Shaw and put Wheeling back in front 4-3.
It would Mark the end of the line for the Bobcat starter, And the Cardinals continued to add on insurance. It was the first of three straight RBIs for the Cardinals with Mateo adding an RBI single and Millians grabbing his fourth RBI of the day off a Bobcat error. It put Wheeling up 6-3 and the Cardinals would get one more run before ending the inning. It came after Nicholas Schulz was hit by a pitch, bringing Luke Meyer to the plate. Meyer would reach on a fielder's choice to bring home Mateo And make it a 7-3 game. With the lead in hand, Khan came out for the bottom of the seventh And picked up a 1-2-3 inning to close out the night. It would be his Second complete game effort of the season as he threw 7.0 innings allowing three runs, one earned, on five hits while walking one and trying his career-high with nine strikeouts.
Leading the offensive effort was Gavin Millians, who finished 2-4 with four RBI in the winning effort. It was the third straight game where the senior would drive in either the game tying or go ahead runs in the top of the seventh inning. Brett Johnson and Edward Mateo each drove in runs in the effort, with each hitter going 2-4 with a pair of runs scored, while Luke Meyer finished 1-3 with an RBI. Kalayo Shaw was a catalyst at the top of the order, finishing 2-3 with a pair of walks and three runs scored.
Game Two: Wheeling 8, West Virginia Wesleyan 4
After putting up four runs in the top of the seventh of game one, the Cardinals carried that momentum right with them into game two. After an out to start the top of the first, Brett Johnson started things with a walk before an Edward Mateo single put two on and one out. Gavin Millians kept his hot bat going, singling to bring home Johnson and putting the Cardinals ahead 1-0. Nicholas Schulz follow with a single of his own. Bring home Mateo, and Wheeling was staked to a 2-0 lead. After back-to-back strong starts, Brock Elliott was given the ball on game two for the Cardinals and, like Sebastian Khan was given a 2-0 lead heading to the mound. Also like his fellow starter, Elliott responded with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first and the Cardinals were staked to a 2-0 lead.
Unlike game one, the Cardinals bats got right back to work in the Top of the second. Noah Gutierrez reached on a one-out single and Caid Heflin followed with one of his own to put two on and one out. Johnson would step in and picked up his second hit of the day in the form of an RBI double to bring time Gutierrez. The big hit of the inning would follow when Mateo stepped in with two on and one out. He launched a three-run blast to double the Cardinal lead to 6-3, and that would be the score at the end of the inning. After not allowing an earned rub over his first 16.0 innings of the season, Elliott was tagged for his first earned runs of the year in the bottom of the second. The Bobcats would cut the Cardinal lead in half with a three-run bottom of the second, and the score sat at 6-3 in favor of Wheeling after two innings of play.
It was the last inning that Elliott would give up any runs to the opposition, as he threw up four straight zeros to round out the day. He would throw a career high 6.0 innings of work allowing three runs on six hits while striking out a career-best eight batters. His offense would offer him more support throughout the start. Putting two more runs up in the middle. First of those runs came in the top of the 4th when Mateo reached on a one out single and stole second to get into scoring position. Millians would pick up his sixth RBI of the day, second in game two, with A single that made it a 7-3 game. In the very next inning, it was a Kale Wilkins single, followed by a wild pitch that got a runner into scoring position with one out. This time, the hit came from Gutierrez in the form of an RBI single, and Wheeling would lead 8-3 after five innings.
West Virginia Wesleyan would put together one last push in the bottom of the 7th and the Cardinals called on Tamoki Jitsukawa. The senior would surrender one run in the inning but was able to close out the Cardinal win. He would throw 1.0 inning of work, allowing one run on two hits while walking a batter. It rounded out the Cardinals seth doubleheader sweep of the season and moved them to 4-2 through their first six conference games.
Leading the effort for Wheeling was Edward Mateo, putting together a 3-3 day at the plate with a home run, three RBI, and three runs scored. The eight Cardinal runs in the effort with his big shot being the three-run home run that opened up the game in the second. Gavin Millians continued to swing his hot bat, going2-4 with two RBI, while Nicholas Schulz added a 2-4 day with an RBI of his own.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Sunday, March 22nd, when they take on Davis & Elkins at 1 PM.
