Washington, PA. – After splitting day one, the battle of the top two teams in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division came down to its final two games on Sunday at EQT Park. The Wheeling University Baseball team (27-8, 12-3) was looking to keep their streak of weekend wins going and they would battle across two tightly contested games. The Cardinals would get strong pitching for the second day in a row, and the offense was able to push across three runs in both games, earning wins of 3-2 and 3-1, to earn the sweep of the day and take three of four from Frostbug State for their fourth straight weekend win.
Game One: Wheeling 3, Frostburg State 2
In game one, the Cardinals sent Dom Carlson to the hill and he would turn in his best start of the season. After allowing a lead-off single in the top of the first, he would retire the next three batters, and sent Wheeling to the bat racks. He would end up allowing at least one base runner in each of the first five innings, but was able to work his way out of a jam in each of those innings to keep Frostburg State off the board. In the top of the second, Frostburg State would get runners to first and second with tow outs, before a groundout back to the mound kept it a 0-0 game heading to the bottom of the second. On the other side, Frostburg State sent Hunter Layhew to the mound and he would retire the Cardinals 1-2-3 in the home half of the first. He started the second with a strikeout before Luke Meyer singled to give Wheeling their first base runner of the day. He remained on first with two outs and Chris Alvarez would advance him to second with a single.
It brought up Brett Johnson with runners on first and second with two outs, and he would single to left field to bring home the first run of the game to give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats would get their first runner to third on a stolen base by Tanner Cunningham, but Carlson would once again hold them off the board. The Cardinals continued their offensive success in the bottom of the third when Noah Gutierrez walked to start the inning. Caid Heflin would lay down a sacrifice bunt to move a runner to scoring position with one out. Edward Mateo followed with a single to put runners on the corners with one out and he stole second to put runners at second and third with two outs. Meyer would step in and delivered with a two-out RBI double to center, scoring both Gutierrez and Mateo to put the Cardinals out to a 3-0 lead.
It was enough to get Carlson into a groove as he stranded another base runner in the fourth and followed with a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. The biggest Bobcat threat came in the top of the sixth as they got runners to first and third with two outs, but he once again worked his way out of a jam to keep it a 3-0 game. He would come back out for the top of the seventh, but allowed a single and an error to put two on before giving the ball over to the bullpen. Brock Elliott would come in and a passed ball would move runners to second and third with nobody out. A groundout would bring in the first run and a single from Jackson Schalick made it a one-run game at 3-2. Elliott would shut the inning down right here, striking out Jake Holler looking to secure the 3-2 win for the Cardinals.
Carlson would pick up his fifth win of the season, throwing 6.1 innings and being charged with two unearned runs on four hits, while walking one and striking out three. Elliott would round out the game with the final 0.2 innings of work, allowing one hit and striking out a batter as he tied the single-season save record with his seventh of the season. Leading the offensive effort was Luke Meyer, who finished 2-3 with a double and two RBI in the winning effort. Brett Johnson would drive in the final run of the day, going 1-1 with a walk and an RBI, while Caid Heflin and Edward Mateo each picking up a hit to round out the day.
Game Two: Wheeling 3, Frostburg State 1
With the split of the weekend secured, the Cardinals were looking for their fourth straight weekend win as they headed into the final game of the four-game series. After getting the save in game one, the Cardinals would once again turn to Brock Elliott for the game two start. He would retire the Bobcats 1-2-3 in the top of the first, before conceeding his first run in the top of the second. The Cardinals would face Bryce Bauer in the final game, and he would hold the offense at bay early. In the top of the first, Edward Mateo was hit by a pitch for the first Cardinal base runner of the night, but was caught stealing to end the first. In the bottom of the second, Wheeling would get their first hit of the day on a double from Chris Alvarez, but they were unable to get him around as Frostburg State maintained their 1-0 lead.
After allowing the run in the top of the second, Elliott would finish out his day with a scoreless third, before giving the ball to the bullpen. He would finish throwing 3.0 innings allowing one run on two hits while walking one and striking out two. Ethan Wells would takeover in the top of the fourth and would stabilize things on the mound. He threw 3.0 no hit innings, allowing just two walks and keeping things sitting at a 1-0 game. Meanwhile, Bauer continued to cruise for the Bobcats, putting up back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the fourth and fifth innings, and as the game headed to the bottom of the sixth, the score sat at 1-0 in favor of Frostburg State. After a groundout to start the inning, Griffin Pickhardt would get things started with a one-out single. Kalayo Shaw followed with a single of his own and the Cardinals had runners at first and third with one out.
They would break on to the scoreboard as Caid Heflin stepped in and lined a single to right center field and the game sat tied at 1-1. Frostburg State would make a call to the bullpen, with Joey Serafin taking over and he got his first man as Mateo popped up on the infield. It brought Luke Meyer to the plate with two outs and he would come through once again in the clutch. He lined a 2 RBI double to center field and gave Wheeling the lead at 3-1. With a save on the line, Wheeling called on Jacob Dukate to throw the top of the 7th. An error allowed the first man of the inning to reach, but a 4-6-3 double play would quickly erase him. However, back-to-back two out walks brought the go ahead run to the plate and Tomoki Jitsukawa would come in to finish things off. He threw just one pitch and got his man to pop up and secured the 3-1 Cardinal win and picked up his first save of the season.
Luke Meyer would put together another big day at the plate, leading the way going 1-3 with a pair of RBI. He would finish with four RBI between the two games, driving in more than half of his team's offense on the day. Caid Heflin would drive in the other run, finishing 1-3 with an RBI and a run scored, while Griffin Pickhardt would add a 1-2 effort with a run scored in the effort.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Tuesday, April 14th, when they take on CAL-U in a midweek match-up with first pitch at 1 PM.
