Washington, PA. – For the second time this season, the Wheeling University Baseball team (27-10, 13-3) traveled to EQT Park to take on CAL-U in a midweek match-up. After the Cardinals won the weekend against Frostburg State this weekend, it was match-up between the #7 and #8 teams in the NCAA DII Atlantic Region. The Cardinals got started strong, holding the lead into the bottom of the ninth before CAL-U rallied back to earn a 6-5 walk-off win, handing the Cardinals their 10th loss of the season.
Head Coach Ryan Lewicki handed the ball to Jacob Rollyson for the midweek start and, after giving up an early run, he settled in. He would give up a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, but was able to strand a base runner and keep it a 1-0 game. His offense would respond in the top of the second with two outs when Nicholas Schulz drew a walk. Robbie Wilson-Jones would draw a walk of his own and Nick Chiappetta stepped up with two on. He would single to center field to bring home Schulz and the Cardinals tied the game at 1-1. Kalayo Shaw would follow with a two-out walk to load the bases and a wild pitch would bring home Wilson-Jones, giving the Cardinals their first lead of the day at 2-1. Rollyson would throw back-to-back scoreless innings in the second and third, capping off the stretch with a 1-2-3 bottom of the third, and the Cardinals headed into the fourth with a 2-1 lead.
After a fly out to start the inning, Caid Heflin would reach on a one out single and was replaced by Edward Mateo on a Fielder's Choice. Mateo got himself into scoring position with a steal of second and Gavin Millians would pick him up with an RBI single, and the Cardinals extended their advantage to 3-1. Rollyson continued to mow down the Vulcans throughout the next two innings, picking up his second straight 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the fourth. In the fifth, CAL-U got a base runner to second with one out but again would strand him to keep it a 3-1 game. As Wheeling came to bat in the top of the sixth, lightning would strike and send the game into a lightning delay. The delay lasted around 35 minutes and the Cardinals would come back to the plate and drew a two-out walk before the inning was retired.
They would get two insurance runs in the top of the seventh when Luke Meyer started things with a one-out double. Chris Alvarez would draw a walk to put runners at first and second with one out, and Nicholas Schulz would step to the plate. He promptly doubled down the left field line, bringing home both runners and the Cardinals were staked to a 5-1 lead. Rollyson would toss another scoreless inning in the bottom of the seventh, finishing out a strong day on the mound. He would last 7.0 innings allowing one run on four hits while striking out two batters. The bullpen would take over for the final two innings, and the Vulcan bats came to life. They would score a run in the eighth to make it a 5-2 game, before erupting for four ninth inning runs to claim a 6-5 walk-off win.
Leading the offensive effort for the Cardinals was Nicholas Schulz, who finished the day 1-3 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored. Schulz would break the game open in the top of the seventh with a two run double that brought in two insurance runs for the Cardinals. Gavin Millians would drive in a run, finishing 1-4 with an RBI, while Nick Chiappetta added an RBI of his own, finishing 1-3. The lone multi-hit effort came from Luke Meyer, who finished 2-5 with a run scored.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Saturday, April 18th, when they take on Fairmont State in the first of a four-game series at 1 PM.
