Wheeling, W. Va. – For the final time during the 2026 season, the Wheeling University Baseball team (35-13, 20-6) took the field at EQT Park on Friday night. It was a special senior day primetime match-up with West Liberty in the annual "The Battle for Wheeling" and the Cardinals sent out their class of 16 seniors in style. The pitchers combined to throw the first no-hitter in program history in a 14-0 game one win, while the offense battled back for an 8-7 win in game two.
Game One: Wheeling 14, West Liberty 0
In the first game, the Cardinals would make history, throwing a combined no-hitter between three different pitchers. It would start with Sebastian Khan, who threw a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first, and threw three 1-2-3 innings in the game. He allowed his lone base runner of the game in the top of the second, after a walk and a fielder's choice, but he was able to strand the base runner and keep the Hilltoppers out of the hit column. The senior was able to work his way into the top of the fifth, before giving way to Luke Walter. Khan would end up throwing 4.1 innings allowing no hits while walking one and striking out four. He would pick up his ninth win of the season, breaking the single season wins record for a pitcher.
Following him up was Luke Walter, who would enter with one out in the top of the fifth trying to preserve the no-hitter. He would start things off with a strikeout, and followed it with a groundout to head to the sixth. Walter would keep the success going, allowing a walk in the top of the sixth but striking out two of the four batters he faced in the inning to send the game into the seventh with the no-hitter in tack. He would give way to Chris Sauer to start the seventh, and he retired the first two batters he faced on a groundout and a pop out and with two outs, West Liberty's last chance would be Luke Marsh and it would be a pop out to complete the no-hitter. It was the first Cardinal no-hitter in program history, and the offense did more than enough to support them throughout the night.
It started in the bottom of the first, when the Cardinals put up a six-spot to give Khan the early lead. Edward Mateo would draw a walk to start the game and Caid Heflin would single to put runners at the corners. On the next pitch, Heflin would take off for second and the throw would hit off Heflin and allow Mateo to come home to score and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. With a runner in scoring position, Luke Meyer would step in and lined an RBI single to bring home Heflin and give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead. Kalayo Shaw and Chris Alvarez were each hit by a pitch to lead the bases, and a fielder's choice allowed the third run to score. The ball would end up getting away from the catcher and Shaw flew in behind him to give Wheeling a 4-0 lead. Noah Gutierrez would come to the plate and brought home two more with a double to extend Wheeling's lead to 6-0.
Wheeling's offense was right back in the bottom of the second, when Gavin Millians started things with a single. Two batters later, Shaw would walk and Chris Alvarez singled to load the bases with one away. Nicholas Schul would come to the plate and promptly cleared the bases with a double down the left field line that brought home three runs and swelled the Cardinal lead to 9-0. The Cardinals were held off the board in both the bottom of the third and fourth innings, before the offense swung once again in the bottom of the fifth. With one out, Gutierrez was hit by a pitch and Griffin Pickhardt singled to put runners at first and second with one out. Mateo would drive in the 10th run of the day on a single that scored Gutierrez and he would promptly steal second to put a pair in scoring position.
Heflin would follow with a walk to load the bases, and a passed ball would bring home Pickhardt from third and the Cardinal lead swelled to 11-0. Meyer walked to reload the bases, and Shaw would find the left-center field gap to bring home two more runs to end the inning. The Cardinals held a 13-0 lead and brought home their final run of the game on a bases loaded walk in the bottom of the sixth, coming courtesy of Heflin. It brought the game to its final score of 14-0 as the Cardinals took game one.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Nicholas Schulz, who drove in five of his team's 14 runs in the effort. He would finish 1-5 with the five RBI, with his big hit being the bases clearing double in the bottom of the second that gave the Cardinals a 9-0 lead. Noah Gutierrez would be the other Cardinal with multiple RBI in the game, finishing 1-2 with two RBI, while Edward Mateo went 2-3 at the top of the lineup with a pair of run scored. Caid Heflin, Luke Meyer, and Kalayo Shaw each drove in a run to round out the day. The Cardinals went into the second game of the day looking to sweep the first two games of the series.
Game Two Wheeling 8, West Liberty 7
After being no-hit in game one, the West Liberty Hilltoppers came out hot to start game two. Giacomo Dulce would send the second pitch of the game out of the ballpark, but starter Dom Carlson would hold it at 1-0 heading to the bottom of the first. The Cardinal offense continued their success in the bottom half of the inning, when Edward Mateo reached first on an error, and got to scoring position on that same error. A passed ball would move him to third and he would come home to score on a sacrifice fly from Caid Heflin that made it a 1-1 game. In the bottom of the third, Nicholas Schulz would double to start the inning, and the Cardinals loaded the bases on a walk and a hit by pitch. Mateo would draw a bases loaded walk to give the Cardinals the lead, and a wild pitch would bring home Keaton Ference to put the Cardinals out in front 3-1.
West Liberty would get a run back in the top of the third, but then the rains came down and sent the game into a rain delay. The delay lasted about 45 minutes and when they came out of it, Head Coach Ryan Lewicki turned to Mason Fenwick. He would give up two more runs by innings end, and the Hilltoppers would head into the bottom of the third with a 4-3 lead. A wild pitch in the bottom of the third would tie the game once again and the game sat tied at 4-4 after three innings. The top of the fourth would see West Liberty go back in front on a three-run Austin Wittereich home run and the Cardinals trailed 7-4. That would be the score heading to the bottom of the fifth, and the Cardinals would take advantage of a Hilltopper miscue while a sacrifice fly from Alvarez to score Mateo made it a 7-6 game.
That's where the score sat heading to the bottom of the seventh, and a one-out triple by Luke Meyer would have the Cardinals in business. Nick Chiappetta would be the pinch runner as the tying run 90 feet away. Two batters later, Chris Alvarez drew a walk and Nicholas Schulz lined a two-out RBI double to make it a 7-7 game. However, Alvarez was thrown out at the plate trying to score and the game would go to extra innings. Jacob Dukate would come on for the eighth, throwing a scoreless inning. In the bottom of the eighth, Ference started things out with a single and a stolen base before back-to-back walks to pinch hitter Kalayo Shaw and Mateo would load the bases for Caid Heflin. He would lift a sacrifice fly to left field, bringing home Ference for the walk-off 8-7 win.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Heflin, who lifted a pair of sacrifice flies and picked up his first walk-off hit of the season. Chris Alvarez reached base all four times, going 2-2 with two walks and an RBI as he continues his successful stretch at the plate. Nicholas Schulz and Edward Mateo would round out the offense with an RBI each in the win.
The Wheeling University Baseball team returns to action on Sunday, May 3rd when they battle West Liberty with first pitch at 1 PM.
