Wheeling, W. Va. – After battling through the Mountain East Conference (MEC) South portion of their schedule, the time has come for Divisional play as the Wheeling University Baseball team (24-8, 10-2) returns to EQT Park. The stage is set for an Atlantic Regional showdown as the #10 Cardinals take on the #4 Frostburg State Bobcats in a four-game weekend set. The action starts Saturday with a 3 PM doubleheader, followed by a 1 PM doubleheader on Sunday to round out the week.
Wheeling would play their final non-conference series of the year last time out when they traveled to Salem in a four-game set. The first day featured back and forth action, with the two teams splitting the day. It was a pitcher's duel in game one, with the Cardinals picking up a 4-2 win. The second game would see the Cardinals fall behind 8-1 early and, despite scoring a three-spot in the top of the seventh, the Cardinals would fall 8-5 to end the day. As they headed into day two, the Cardinal offense just kept scoring, with three home runs powering the team to a 13-3 victory. The Cardinals would need one more win to secure their third straight weekend win, and the script would be flipped from the second game on Saturday. The Cardinals would jump out to an early 6-1 lead, and survived a Salem comeback to hold on for the 6-5 win. The Cardinals would take three and four from the Tigers, all but securing their standing in the Atlantic Region for a third week in a row.
Leading the charge once again for the Cardinals was senior Gavin Millians, who has been on a tear from the #3 hole in the Cardinal's order. Against Salem, Millians would finish 5-11 (.455) with two home runs and seven RBI across the four-game set. His biggest effort of the weekend would come in the third game, when he finished 3-4 with a pair of home runs and five RBI in the team's 13-3 win. He would be the one to get the scoring started, hitting a two-run home run on the top of the second inning, and capping his big day with a three-run bomb in the top of the sixth. While he saw his 12-game hitting streak come to an end over the weekend, he still has a hit in 14 of the team's last 15 games, going 23-45 (.512) during that stretch. He has also hit three of his four home runs during that stretch, placing him in a tie for second for the team lead, while leading the team with 34 RBI during the year.
The other big performance at the plate came courtesy of Caid Heflin, who hit his first two home runs of the season, both on day two, to help the Cardinals to the sweep. It started in the team's 13-3 game one win, where Heflin went 3-3 with the first of his home runs and two RBI. He would tie the game with an RBI single in the fourth inning, and hit a solo home run for the Cardinal's 12th run of the day. In game two, Heflin would add a 1-2 effort with his second home run of the day as he helped the Cardinals hold a 6-5 lead. On the mound, the Cardinals got the seires started strong with Ethan Wells starting game one. It was the first start of the year for the redshirt freshman, and he responded by throwing 4.0 innings allowing two runs on four hits while walking three and striking out five. It helped propel the Cardinals to a 4-2 series opening win, and led them to eventually win the weekend.
As they head into the Divisional portion of the schedule, the Cardinals will be playing in their second Atlantic Region ranked match-up of the season. Wheeling and Frostburg State are the two lone MEC teams ranked in the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) Atlantic Regional poll. The Bobcats enter as the #3 team in the region, and are coming off a win against #19 Seton Hill in their midweek match-up and are currently riding a 17-game win streak into EQT Park. Wheeling is riding a streak of their own, having won three straight weekends, including two weekend sweeps in those three weekends. Wheeling cruised through the MEC South portion of their schedule, and sit just six wins away from setting the program's single-season wins record. They look to get a jumpstart on that number with their Divisional opening weekend.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Bobcats are meeting for the 22nd time in program history when they open up the four-game series on Saturday. Frostburg State holds the series lead, sitting at 13-8, and the Bobcats have also won each of the past five meetings with Wheeling. The Cardinals hold a 1-5 record at home against the Bobcats, compared to a 6-6 mark on the road, and are 8-12 since the team joined the MEC in 2021.
The last meeting between the two teams came back on April 14th, 2025, in a doubleheader that Frostburg State would sweep by scores of 9-0 and 17-8. Game one was led by a 1-3 effort with two RBI from Chris Sauer, while former Cardinal Jacob Lentz added a pinch hit two-run home run. In game two, it was the Wheeling bullpen that led the way, with former Cardinals Matt Sanfilippo and Zach Dellerman combining for 1.1 scoreless innings from the bullpen.
The Details
First pitch for Saturday's series opener is scheduled for 3 PM inside EQT Park in Washington, Pennsylvania. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
