BUCKHANNON, W.Va.– The West Virginia Wesleyan (0-17, 0-6 MEC) baseball team opened Hank Ellis Field for the first time in the 2022 season on Friday. The Bobcats welcomed the Wheeling University Cardinals (8-13, 4-2 MEC) for a Mountain East Conference doubleheader. The Cardinals swept WVWC winning game one 15-5 and game two 18-8.
Game One
Wheeling tagged the Bobcats with two runs in the top half of the first to take the early lead. Geovani Sostre helped get the Bobcat bats going in the second when he doubled to right-center to lead off the inning. After advancing on a wild pitch, Leo White delivered a quality at-bat and plated Sostre with a rbi groundout to the right side. The Cardinals plated nine runs over the next two innings to take a commanding 11-1 lead. WVWC would not go away easily responding with three of their own in the fifth. Leo White started the inning off with a single to left. White later advanced to second on a passed ball before Matt Turner put runners on the corners after he legged out an infield single. One batter later, White scored on an error by the Wheeling shortstop. The next batter, Sam Ingram, roped a double over the right fielder’s head score two more runs for the Bobcats. The Wheeling lead proved insurmountable as the game ended in a 15-5 defeat.
Luke White (0-1) was credited with the loss in game one as he opened the contest for the Bobcats. White surrendered one earned run in two full innings of work and struck out one. Jake Mauzy was effective in relief, throwing two innings of scoreless ball and only allowing two baserunners.
Game Two
The ‘Cats took advantage of erratic pitching in the first as they scored two runs without registering a base hit. Bobcat hitters drew four walks in the opening frame, with three coming by a hit-by-pitch. Wheeling would take a 4-2 lead after the top half of the third. In the bottom half of the third, the first four Bobcat hitters would reach base without recording an out. Sostre reached first on and throwing error by the third basemen to tie the game up at four. Two batters later, Cole Shearer was struck by a pitch to reload the bases. Nick Corwell stepped up to the dish and doubled to the right-center gap to plate two more runs. Sam Ingram finished the Bobcat scoring rampage with a single up the middle to score Shearer and Corwell and take an 8-4 lead. The Cardinals would score 14 unanswered runs to take an 18-8 win in game two.
Eil Brogan (0-2) was credited with the loss in game two throwing 2.1 innings of relief. Robbie Baker opened the contest for the Orange and Black, throwing two innings and surrendering one earned run.
Up Next
Wesleyan will return to action Sunday hosting West Liberty at 1 p.m. in a MEC twin bill.
