Murray's Home Run Not Enough as Wheeling Drops Game 2 to Cal-U
Washington, PA. – After being postponed on Saturday due to weather, the Wheeling University Baseball team (1-7, 0-0) was back in action on Sunday against Cal-U at Wild Things Park. The Cardinals' offense couldn't get going and they fell to the #7 ranked team in the region 7-1. The Cardinals totaled five hits in the game and could not hold off a late surge from the Vulcans.
Paul Tripi got the start for the Cardinals and early on was firing on all cylinders. He retired the Vulcans 1-2-3 in the first inning and allowed just one hit in the second inning as the team's sat deadlocked at 0-0. The Vulcans would strike first in the bottom of the third with a sacrifice fly and looked to add more with runners at second and third with one out. However, Tripi broke down and got out of the jam with a strikeout and a fielder's choice that stranded the bases loaded to keep it a 1-0 game. He would be rewarded in the top of the fourth with two outs. Jacob Murray stepped up with no one on and deposited his second home run of the season into left-center field to tie the game at 1-1.
Tripi would throw up two more zeroes and after five innings the score sat tied at 1-1. However, as the game moved to the sixth inning, the Vulcan offense came alive as that takes on three runs in the inning and ended Tripi's day. He threw 6.0 innings of work allowing four earned runs on 10 hits while walking two and striking out three. Daniel Worley would come in to pitch the seventh inning and was charged with three earned runs that made the score 7-1 after seven innings of play. Hayden Scudder would throw the eighth inning and had the best performance for the Cardinals pitching staff. He did not allow a run in the inning while walking one and allowing one base runner.
Over the final three innings of the game, Wheeling had a few opportunities to add on but was unable to do so. In the seventh, Murray walked with one out in the inning before a fielding error allowed Spenser Craig to reach and moved Murray to third with one out. However, two flyouts ended the inning and moved the game to the bottom of the seventh. In the eighth, the Cardinals would again get runners to the corners, this time with two outs, after singles by Jack Skantze and Riley Cameron. They were also stranded and left the Cardinals with three outs to go in the top of the ninth. They were retired 1-2-3 in the ninth and took their seventh loss of the season.
Riley Cameron registered the only multi-hit game for the Cardinals, going 2-3 with a walk. Jacob Murray led the way going 1-3 with a home run and the team's only RBI in the game. Jack Skantze and Anthony May added the final two hits of the Day for the Cardinals. May and Murray had the lone extra-base hits for the Cardinals as they drop both games to the Vulcans. They now get set for another non-conference trip to Salem, West Virginia, where they will play three more non-conference regional games to prepare for the start of conference play in just 20 days.
The Wheeling University Baseball team is back in action on Friday, March 4th, when they take on Alderson Broaddus with the first pitch at 5 PM.