Wheeling, W. Va. - As the season comes down to its final two weeks, the Wheeling University Baseball team (30-11, 16-4) continues its push for its first-ever NCAA Atlantic Regional Tournament berth. On Monday, the National Collegiate Baseball Writer's Association (NCBWA) released their week 11 regional rankings, and the Cardinals continued to climb the ladder, jumping one spot in this week's rankings. Wheeling sits at #7 with two weeks to go, coming off a week in which they made history, breaking the program's single-season win record.
The week began with the team's second regional meeting with California University of Pennsylvania in what was a nine-inning thriller at EQT Park. The Cardinals held a 5-2 lead over the Vulcans with one-out in the top of the ninth, but a late CAL-U rally was enough to lift them to a 6-5 walk-off victory over the Cardinals. After a tough loss, the Cardinals would look to bounce back as they opened a four-game weekend set on the road against Fairmont State. Day one would see the offense lead the way with Wheeling combining to score 23 runs between the two games. Game one got started fast with Wheeling picking up a 15-0 win, and they kept their foot on the gas with an 8-0 game two win. After a break for rain on Saturday, Fairmont State would grab their first win in a 6-4 game three victory before Wheeling rounded things out with a 14-7 win to take the weekend.
The weekend win was the fifth consecutive weekend win for the Cardinals, headlined by offensive success. Leading the way was the Cardinal lead-off hitter Edward Mateo, who finished the weekend 7-15 (.467) with two home runs, six runs scored, and eight RBI across the three games. His biggest effort would come in the opener of the series, where he hit two home runs, including a lead-off home run, as the Cardinals won 15-0. In the finale of the series, it was Griffin Pickhardt who wrapped up what was a strong weekend for the junior. He would go 3-4 with a home run, three runs scored, and five RBI in the finale, getting things back to even with a three-run home run early before the Cardinals ran away with it. Across the four-game series, Pickhardt would go 5-12 (.417) with a pair of home runs, seven RBI, and seven runs scored.
In a weekend that was dominated by offense, two Cardinal pitchers stood out on day one with Sebastian Khan and Mason Fenwick each turning in dominant starts. Khan was up first in game one and had a no-hitter going into the bottom of the seventh, before giving up his first hit of the contest. He would end up going 6.1 allowing just the one hit while walking two and striking out six, lowering his season ERA to 1.84 across 68.1 innings of work. Starting behind him in game two was Mason Fenwick, who turned in a career-best start in the effort. The senior would also last 6.1 innings, allowing just two hits while walking one and striking out four. It was the longest outing of his career, and he faced just three batters over the minimum in the outing.
Leading the week 11 NCBWA rankings with nine first place votes was Seton Hill, who sits 33-8 overall. Right behind them was West Chester at 29-8, and rounding out the top three was East Stroudsburg, who broke a third place tie with Millersville last week to round out the top three. The Cardinals were the highest ranked Mountain East Conference (MEC) team for the first time this season, leading one of three MEC programs to be ranked. They were joined by Frostburg State (#8) and Point Park (#10), who made their first appearance of the season in the regional rankings.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Wednesday, April 22nd, when they host Davis & Elkins in non-conference action, with first pitch at 2 PM.
