Charleston, W. VA. - After falling in their Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament opener, its win or go home as the Wheeling University Baseball team (36-15, 21-7) heads to the consolation bracket. The Cardinals will need to win five in a row in order to claim their first-ever MEC title, and it starts with Friday night's match-up against Concord. The Cardinals and Mountain Lions will meet in the primetime match-up, with first pitch at 7 PM inside GoMart Ballpark.
The Cardinals opened MEC Tournament play against the #3 seed from the South Glenville State, with both teams' offenses soaring. However, it was the Pioneers that got going early, putting a four-spot up in the first and following it with a run in the top of the second to take a 5-0 lead. The Cardinals answered with their first run in the bottom of the second, before another Pioneer three-spot made it an 8-1 Glenville State advantage. The Cardinals would bring out the boom sticks in the bottom of the fifth with a pair of home runs, and got to within striking distance at 8-4. However, the Pioneers closed the comeback door with a five-run top of the sixth inning, and Wheeling would fall 14-7 to move to the tournaments consolation bracket.
Leading the offensive charge for the Cardinals was sophomore Caid Heflin, who finished 2-4 with a home run, an RBI, and two runs scored. He would jump start the three-run bottom of the fifth with a solo home run over the left field wall, his fourth of the season, as he helped the Cardinals make a comeback attempt. Over the final two divisional series of the year, Heflin has transitioned into the team's center fielder, and has taken advantage of more playing time. Over his last eight games, Heflin is hitting .363 (8-22) with a home run, two doubles, and eight RBI. He has driven in at least one run in each of his last five games, with the highwater mark being a three RBI effort to start the string back on April 26th. Heflin will once again find himself in the upper half of the Cardinal lineup, as he looks to lead the comeback effort over the next four days.
The other Cardinal home run in that bottom of the fifth came off the bat of Chris Alvarez with two outs and a runner on first. He would send a two-run shot over the left field wall, and cut the Cardinal deficit to 8-4 with four innings to play. The senior has found his power stroke lately, hitting three of his seven home runs over the last eight games, tying himself for the team lead in home runs. When the Cardinals needed a stopper on the mound, Lamont Akins would be the one to put out the fire. He entered the game in the top of the sixth after five Pioneer runs had already crossed the plate and was able to get the elusive final out. He would end up throwing 1.1 innings, retiring each of the four batters he faced while striking out one.
After the loss on Wednesday, the Cardinals enter the consolation bracket and will have to win five straight games to claim the program's first MEC title. The run starts in primetime on Thursday night, against the MEC South Division Champions Concord University, who fell in their opening round match-up to #3S Point Park. The two teams met back at the end of March in what was a tightly contested game at EQT Park, with Wheeling earning the doubleheader sweep. Since the 2021 season, the Cardinals are 1-3 in consolation bracket games, with their only win coming over West Liberty back in the 2023 season. The Cardinals are looking to be the first team to come back from a first round loss and win the whole tournament since West Virginia State accomplished the feat back in 2021.
The Match-up
The Cardinals and Mountain Lions are meeting for the 40th time in program history on Thursday, and the sixth time in postseason history. Concord leads the all-time series at 27-12, while also leading the postseason series with a record of 1-4. Thursday will also mark the fourth neutral site meeting between the two teams, with Concord winning two of the previous three neutral site meetings. The Cardinals are riding the momentum after having swept the season series, and look to carry that momentum into postseason play.
The regular season meeting between the two teams came back on March 30th, with the Cardinals winning by scores of 2-1 and 3-2. In game one, it was Gavin Millians leading the way with a 2-3 effort with an RBI, while Luke Meyer added an RBI of his own, finishing 1-3. In game two, Tomoki Jitsukawa got his team off to a strong start, throwing three scoreless innings, while Chris Alvarez finished 1-3 with an RBI in the effort.
The Details
First pitch for Thursday's first round elimination game is scheduled for 7 PM inside GoMart Ballpark. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
