Wheeling, W. Va. – After rain forced the final weekend of Mountain East Conference (MEC) South play back a day, the Wheeling University Baseball team (19-6, 8-2) took the field at EQT Park on Monday. The bats came to play for a second week in a row, with the Boom Squad combining for five home runs between the two games as the Cardinals swept Glenville State. Three home runs accounted for the entire Cardinal offense in a 4-2 game one win, and they added two more in game two as they squeezed out an 8-6 win to complete the sweep.
Game One: Wheeling 4, Glenville State 2
Game one would see the Cardinals send their ace to the mound, senior Sebastian Khan, and he had to work his way around some early defensive trouble. After a leadoff single was exchanged with a fielder's choice to put a runner on first with one out, an errant throw allowed the Pioneers to get on the board first. Jetsel Cajigas-Martinez raced around from first and gave Glenville State a 1-0 lead heading to the bottom of the first. Wheeling would be quick to answer in their half of the inning, with Kalayo Shaw leading things off with a hit by pitch, and Brett Johnson followed with a single that put runners at first and third with one out. Johnson would be caught stealing for the first out of the inning, and a strikeout would bring Gavin Millians to the plate with a runner at third and two outs. The senior would launch a two-run home run over the left field wall, and the Caridnals had a 2-0 lead.
After allowing that first inning run, Khan would settle in, allowing just two base runners over the next three innings. He would go right after the Pioneer hitters, getting five groundballs during that span, and Wheeling's offense would reward him in the bottom of the fourth. After the first two batters were retired, Luke Meyer would step to the plate and lifted a fly ball down the left field line. It would just stay fair over the foul pole and the Cardinals would extend their lead to 3-1. However, the Pioneers would get the run back on the top of the fifth, keeping the pressure on the Cardinals as the game sat at 3-2 heading to the bottom of the fifth. Khan would throw up a zero in the top half of the sixth, and Wheeling entered their final at-bats looking for insurance heading to the top of the seventh.
They insurance would come from senior Nicholas Schulz, who stepped up with nobody on and one out. Schulz would get a pitch right down the middle and cranked it over the left field wall for a solo home run, the third of the game, and Wheeling made it a 4-2 lead heading to the top of the seventh. Khan would come back out for the top of the seventh, looking for his third complete game effort of the season. He would get the first two batters of the inning to groundout and struck out Cody Rinehart to give the Cardinals their 17th win of the season. The win moved Khan to 5-1 on the season, and gives him three complete games in his six years this season. He would finish his 7.0 innings allowing two unearned runs on four hits while walking one and striking out four.
Leading the effort was Gavin Millians, who finished 1-3 with a home run and two RBI in the effort. It continued a streak of five straight games where the senior drove in at least two runs as he continues to produce in the meat of the Cardinal's order. The other two Cardinal home runs came from Luke Meyer and Nicholas Schulz, who each finished 1-3 with a home run in the effort. Noah Gutierrez and Brett Johnson would each add hits to wrap up the day and the Cardinals would enter game two looking for a sweep.
Game Two: Wheeling 8, Glenville State 6
Game two would see the Cardinals send Dom Carlson to the mound, and he continues the strong starting pitching for the Cardinals. He would throw up a pair of zeros to start the game, retiring six of the seven batters he faced. Wheeling would step to the plate with the score sitting at 0-0 in the bottom of the second before the offense exploded. Nicholas S hulz would start the inning with a double and Brett Johnson would continue the power surge. He cracked a two-run home run over the right-center field wall and the Cardinals took an early 2-0 lead. Keaton Ference would then step in and sent a triple down the right field line, bringing Chris Alvarez to the plate with a runner on third and one out. He would send a double to left field and the Cardinals were out to a 3-0 lead with a runner still standing in scoring position.
Caid Heflin would move Alvarez to third with a single to put runners on the corners, and a groundout left them their with two outs. Edward Mateo would round out the inning with a two-out single and the Cardinals would lead 5-0 after two innings. Glenville State would answer with two runs of their own in the top of the third and the Cardinals would lead 5-2 heading to the bottom of the third. After being held off the board in the third, the Cardinals were right back at it in the bottom of the fourth. Gavin Millians would start things with a one-out double and Schulz would walk to put runners on first and second with one out. Two batters later, Ference would bring home both base runners with an RBI single and the Cardinals extended their lead to 6-2. After a scoreless top of the fifth from Carlson, the Cardinals offense just kept hitting in the bottom half.
Alvarez would get in on the boom squad fun, lifting a solo home run to the deepest part of the park to start the inning. It was the fifth home run of the day for the Cardinals, and they held a 7-2 lead before adding one more insurance run. Heflin would follow with a single and Kalayo Shaw would draw a walk to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Mateo would step in and lined an RBI single up the middle to bring home Heflin and move the Cardinal lead to 8-2. Carlson would work into the top of the sixth, but two more Pioneer runs came around to score, bringing his day to an end. He would throw 5.1 inning allowing four runs, three earned, on seven hits while walking two and striking out three. Lamont Akins would get out of the inning before Glenville State would strike for two in the top of the seventh to make it an 8-6 game. Brock Elliott came on for the save and closed down the threat to secure the 8-6 Cardinal win.
Leading the offensive effort for the Cardinals was Brett Johnson, who finished 2-3 with a home run and two RBI in the effort. He was one of four players with a multi-hit effort in the game and helped add two more home runs to the Cardinal's effort. The other came from Chris Alvarez, who finished 2-2 with a home run, two RBI, and two walks in the effort. Edward Mateo was the final Cardinal with multiple RBI in the effort, finishing 3-4 while driving in two runs in the effort.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Monday, March 30th, when they host Concord with first pitch at 1 PM.
