Charleston, W. Va. - It was win or go home for the Wheeling University Baseball team (36-17. 21-7) as they entered the consolation bracket Friday night against Concord. Unlike in game one, the Cardinal offense jumped out in front early, but they ran into a strong pitching performance on the mound as they ended up falling to Concord 8-4, ending their run in tournament play. The Cardinals will say goodbye to a class of 16 seniors, that helped the program put together a season for the record books, setting the program's all-time wins record and earning their first Mountain East Conference (MEC) North Division title since the 2021 season.
After throwing an inning in their first-round match-up Friday, Concord would send First Team All-MEC honoree Jordan Varlea-Payne to the hill and the Cardinals would get on him early. After getting their first hit in the top of the first, it would be Brett Johnson that got things going with a single to start the second. Nicholas Schulz laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved him to scoring position, and Noah Gutierrez would pick up his man with a single that made it a 1-0 game. Griffin Pickhardt would follow with a walk and a wild pitch moved runners to second and third still with just one man out. Edward Mateo would draw a walk to load the bases, and the big hit would come on a two-RBI single by Caid Heflin. It brought home Gutierrez and Pickhardt, and the Cardinals were staked to a 3-0 lead heading to the bottom of the second.
Dom Carlson threw a scoreless top of the first, but got into trouble with three straight walks to start the second inning. He would get a big strikeout for the first out of the inning, and Head Coach Ryan Lewicki would go to his bullpen, calling on Mason Fenwick. However, the Mountain Lions found their stride, picking up three straight hits as they put up five runs to take a 5-3 lead heading to the top of the fourth. Carlson would be charged with three of the runs, throwing 1.1 while walking four and striking out one without giving up a hit. Concord would add one more run in the bottom of the fourth to make it a 6-3 game, before the Cardinal offense would get going again in the top of the fifth. Mateo would start the inning with a triple and, with two outs was still standing 90 feet away.
A wild pitch would allow him to come home, and the Cardinals cut the lead to two at 6-4 as they headed to the bottom of the fifth. Glenville State answered with two more runs in the bottom half, extending their lead to 8-4 heading to the top of the sixth. The Cardinals would threaten one more time in the top of the seventh, with Gutierrez once again getting things started with a single. A balk moved him to scoring position and two batters later, Mateo singled to put runners at first and third with one out. However, a pop out and a strikeout would strand them there, and the Concord lead stuck at 8-4 after seven innings. From there, Varela-Payne took over, retiring the final six Cardinals he faced as he completed a masterpiece on the mound. He would throw 139 pitches in the complete game effort, while allowing seven hits, four runs, walking two, and striking out 16 batters. The Cardinals would fall by the final score of 8-4, bringing their run in the MEC Tournament to an end.
Leading the offensive effort for the second straight night was Caid Heflin, who finished 204 with two more RBI on the night. He was the catalyst in each of the two tournament games for the Cardinals, going 4-8 (.500) with a home run, and three RBI across the two games. Noah Gutierrez continued his hot tournament, finishing 2-3 with an RBI, while Edward Mateo added a 2-3 effort with a run scored at the top of the lineup. On the pitching staff, Sebastian Khan would enter in relief in the bottom of the fifth inning, and finished out a strong season on the mound. He would throw 3.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out three, wrapping up a season that saw him be named the MEC Pitcher of the Year.
The Wheeling University Baseball team will now head into the off-season as they prepare for the off-season, and the upcoming 2027 campaign.
