Washington, PA. – Entering Play on Sunday, The Wheeling University Baseball team (33-13, 18-6) needed at least one win or a West Liberty loss to clench their spot in the 2026 Mountain East Conference (MEC) Baseball Tournament. Both would end up happening, and the Cardinals officially clinched their spot in the tournament for the first time since the 2024 season. It was a split of day two between Wheeling and point Park, with the Cardinals taking game. One 4-0 before Point Park took an offensive battle in game two 22-11.
Game One: Wheeling 4, Point Park 0
After the pioneers picked up a 2-0 shutout win to close out Friday. The Cardinals were looking to get revenge as they opened day two of the series. Wheeling would send Dom Carlson to the mound and, after allowing a 1 out single, he was able to keep Point Park off the board in the top of the first. In the bottom half of the inning, Edward Mateo would single to start the ball game but Wheeling would strand him in scoring position as it remained 0-0 After one inning of play. Carlson would get his first 1-2-3 inning of the day in the top of the second and the Cardinal box will get to work in the bottom half of the inning. It started with one out as former Pioneer. Chris Alvarez came to the plate and sent a solo home run Over the right field wall. It was his second home run of the series and got Wheeling out to a 1-0 lead.
It was just the start of a big inning for the Cardinals as Nicholas Schulz followed with the devil and advance to third on a pass ball by the Pioneers. Noah Gutierrez would draw a one out walk, And the second pass ball of the inning for the pioneers would bring home the second Cardinal run and move Gutierrez into scoring position still with just one out. Griffin Pickhardt would step in and sent a one-out double to the Left field wall to bring home Gutierrez and extend the Wheeling lead to 3-0. That was more than enough run support for Carlson, who put together his best start of the season to this point in the effort. He would pitch his first complete game of 2026, allowing just Five hits while walking two and striking out five. He did not allow more than one Base runner in each of the first five innings, including two 1-2-3 efforts during that stretch, or stranding runners at the end of the game to keep the shutout intact.
After putting up the three spot in the bottom of the second, Wheeling would get a key insurance run in the bottom half of inning number five. After the first two batters of the inning flew out, Caid Heflin would single and advance to 2nd on another passed ball to put a runner in scoring position with two outs. Kalayo Shaw would come to the plate and singled home Heflin to move Wheeling's lead to 4-0. That would remain the score As Carlson came out for the top of the 7th And he got a ground out and a fly out to start the inning. He would allow a one out single to Carlos de la Vega, but he got the groundout to third to end the game and give the Cardinals a 4-0 win. It was Carlson's first career complete game as he was able to put the Cardinals in the driver's seat for the weekend win.
Leading the effort for Wheeling was Chris Alvarez, who finished 1-3 with the home run, an RBI, and a run scored. It was his second Home run of the series as he got the Cardinal offense started in that bottom of the second. Kalayo Shaw and Griffin Pickhardt each drove in a run, with Pickhardt going 1-2 with a double and Shaw going 1-3 on the day. Caid Heflin, Edward Mateo, and Nicholas Schulz each rounded out the offense with a hit as the Cardinals tried to win the weekend in the second game.
Game Two: Point Park 22, Wheeling 11
In the first three games of the series, the top two pitching teams in the MEC we're as advertised with no team scoring more of runs in any of the three games. However, that all changed in game four of the series with the two teams combining to score 33 runs. There was at least one run scored in every inning, starting with Point Park in the top of the first. Jacob Rollyson would get the start for the Cardinals and was tagged for two runs. In that top of the first inning. His offense came to bat in the bottom half of the inning and got one back when Edward Mateo and Caid Heflin delivered back-to-back singles to start the bottom of the first. Both runners would move up on a ground out but with two outs they remained at second and third as Chris Alvarez stood in. Alvarez would come through with a clutch two out single as Mateo scored to make it a 2-1 game.
The Pioneers would get that run back in the top of the second on a RBI single by Chris Williams, but their biggest outburst would come in the top of the third. They would score seven runs in the inning, with the big blow being a Williams grand slam, And the Cardinals would head to the bottom of the 3rd trailing 10-1. It would once again be Mateo and Heflin getting the offense going with a single and a walk, before a Brett Johnson double would bring home the second Cardinal run of the game. With runners still at second and third and nobody out Luke Meyer would add a single to bring home Heflin and the Cardinals cut the lead to 10-3. It once again brought Alvarez to the plate in a run scoring situation and he answered with a two RBI triple that brought home both runners and got Wheeling back into it at 10-5.
Nicholas Schulz would pick up the final RBI of the inning, singling home Alvarez and after three three innings it was a 10-6 game in favor of the Pioneers. Williams continued to be a thorn in the Cardinal's side, driving in two more runs in the top of the fourth before the Cardinals responded in the bottom half. It would be a Heflin sacrifice fly that scored Mateo, ed and the score sat at 12:7 after 4 Eddie's of play. Fourmore Point Park runs. Would touch home in the top of the 5th, two more off the bat of Williams, and Wheeling. Would once again go to work now down 16-7. The bottom half of the fifth would start with an Alvarez walk, before Schulz followed with a walk of his own and Keaton Ference was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one away. Pickhardt would pick up a sacrifice fly but that was the only run that scored and the game sat at 12-8.
However, Point Park would put the game Out of reach With a six-run top of the sixth inning, including the second Grand slam of the day for Williams. The 22 runs for Point Park, Williams drove in 13 of those runs, including hitting two grand slams in the effort. Mateo would get things started for the Cardinals in the bottom half with a single before stealing second to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Heflin would pick him up with a single and got into scoring position on an error, before Johnson brought him home with a single to make it 22-10. The final run of the game would come in the bottom of the 7th when Heflin once again picked up an RVI single that brought the game to its final score of 22-11.
It would be Caid Heflin leading the effort for the Cardinals, finishing three for four with two runs scored and three RBI. He and Edward Mateo what service plugs for the team with the Point Park bats. He was one of three Cardinals to finish with multi-rbi days, with Chris Alvarez matching his number going 2-3 with a pair of runs scored and three RBI. The final multi RBI effort came from Brett Johnson, who finished two for four with a double and a pair of RBI in the effort.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Friday, May 3rd, when they take on West Liberty with first pitch at 5 PM.
