Washington, Pa. - It was a Friday night prime time match-up for the Wheeling University Baseball team (32-12, 17-5) when they welcomed Point Park to EQT Park for the first two games of a four-game series. In a battle of the top two pitching teams in the Mountain East Conference (MEC) the match-up was as advertised, with both games being decided by two runs or fewer. Game one would result in a 5-4 walk-off win for the Cardinals, while Point Park took game two 2-0 as the two teams split the first two games of the four-game weekend set.
Game One: Wheeling 5, Point Park 4 (9 innings)
The first game of the day would pit Wheeling's ace, senior Sebastian Khan, against Point Park's Ramon Rodriguez as the two went toe to toe on the mound. Both would produce scoreless first innings, with Point Park having the lone base runner on back-to-back two out singles, but the game sat tied at 0-0 heading to the second. The Pioneers were first to crack the scoreboard on a two-out RBI single from Felix Gonzalez, but Khan was able to strand him on base to keep it a 1-0 game heading to the bottom of the second. Kalayo Shaw would deliver the first Cardinal hit of the day in the bottom of the second, but he was left on base and Point Park held a 1-0 lead. They would add a second run in the top of the fifth on an RBI double by Olindo Pezzone and Wheeling still had just the one hit on the scoreboard, and was trailing 2-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
The Cardinals needed a spark and, after a one-out single from Nicholas Schulz, Chris Alvarez would come to the plate and delivered in the clutch. He sent a two-run home run over the left field wall and tied the game at 2-2. That's where the score would sit heading to the top of the sixth, and Point Park once again threatened to take the lead. They would get runners to the corners with nobody out, before Khan delivered a big strikeout for the first out of the inning. He would then strikeout Felix Gonzalez, and turned a rare 2-1-5 caught stealing to round out the inning. Wheeling would take their first lead of the game in the bottom of the sixth, when Edward Mateo and Noah Gutierrez reached on back-to-back singles. Gavin Millians would fly out, moving Mateo to third, and a wild pitch would allow Mateo to race home to give the Cardinals a 3-2 lead.
With the lead in hand, Khan would come back out for the top of the seventh, looking for his fifth complete game of the season. He would hit the first batter he faced and a sacrifice bunt moved the runner to scoring position. He would end up coming home when Pezzone lined a double to left center field and Point Park held a 4-3 lead heading to the bottom of the seventh. The Cardinals turned to the same combination they used to get on the board, with Schulz drawing a walk to bring Alvarez to the plate. He would come through in the clutch once again, delivering an RBI double and tying the game at 4-4. That would be the score at the end of the seventh, and the two teams would battle to extra innings. Khan would end up throwing 6.1 innings allowing four runs on 10 hits, while walking one and striking out eight.
Tomoki Jitsukawa took over in the top of the seventh, and delivered 1.2 scoreless innings for the Cardinals, walking two and striking out three, and Ethan Wells added a scoreless ninth to keep it a 4-4 game. In the bottom of the ninth, Alvarez would get things started with a walk, and moved into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from Brett Johnson. Griffin Pickhardt followed with a walk, and Point Park would intentionally walk Mateo to load the bases with one out. It brought Keaton Ference to the plate, who delivered with a two-out walk-off single to center, scoring Alvarez and giving the Cardinals the 5-4 win. It was the second walk-off win of the season for the Cardinals as they started the series off with a big win.
Leading the effort for the Cardinals was Chris Alvarez, who finished 2-3 with a double, a pair of runs scored, and three RBI. He would come up with two clutch hits for the Cardinals, tying the game in both the bottom of the fifth and seventh, forcing extra innings for the Cardinals. Keaton Ference would come off the bench, finishing 1-2 with an RBI, delivering the walk-off win in the bottom of the ninth. Nicholas Schulz, Edward Mateo, Noah Gutierrez, and Kalayo Shaw would each add hits to round out the day.
Game Two: Point Park 2, Wheeling 0
After the late back and forth in game one, the Cardinals and Pioneers would continue their strong pitching into game two. Mason Fenwick would take the mound for the Cardinals against Harold Boyce for Point Park, and both were on top of their game. Both pitchers would allow a base runner in the first, but each would strand the runner to keep it a 0-0 game. Caid Heflin delivered the first hit of the game for the Cardinals, and Fenwick would keep the Pioneers out of the hit column until the top of the fourth. During that same span, the Cardinals would have two hits, and the game was sent into the top of the fifth with the scoreless tie holding. That is where the tie would be broken, when Point Park's Luis Gonzalez doubled to start the inning, before Carlos de la Vega launched a two-run home run to make it a 2-0 Pioneer lead.
That 2-0 score would hold into the bottom of the sixth, when the Cardinals put together their best effort of the day. With two outs, Heflin would draw a walk, and Gavin Millians slapped a hard hit single to center to put runners at first and second with two outs. However, a groundout would end the inning and it remained a 2-0 game as Fenwick came back out for the top of the seventh. He would get a flyout to start the inning before giving way to the bullpen. Fenwick would finish the day throwing 6.1 allowing two runs on four hits while walking one and striking out six. Jacob Dukate would enter for the final two outs of the inning, finishing with a strikeout against the two batters he faced. However, the Cardinals would go 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh, as they fell 2-0 to round out the day.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Jalen Raysor, who finished 1-2 with a single in the effort. He would get the first hit of the day for the Cardinals and played solid defense throughout the game at second base. Caid Heflin and Gavin Millians would round out the day with the final two hits, and Wheeling would end up splitting day one of the series.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Sunday, April 26th, when they play the final two games of this four-game set, with first pitch at 1 PM.
