Cards slip up against Concord in tournament opener
BECKLEY, W.Va. (May 13) - The Cardinal bats were limited to five hits in a 15-1 loss to Concord in an opening round game of the Mountain East Conference (MEC) Tournament Thursday afternoon at Epling Stadium.
The Wheeling University baseball team (27-13) will now play West Virginia State tomorrow, Friday, May 14 at 12 p.m. in an elimination game. West Virginia State, the top seed in the south, was upset by Alderson Broaddus 6-5 in the first game of the day.
Concord (16-21) set the tone early with four singles to start the game and collect a 2-0 lead.
Wheeling got one run back on a two-out RBI-double by senior third baseman Luis Dominguez (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Spellman) in the bottom of the first.
The run was the only offense the Cardinals generated all game. Concord's Tyler Abernathy ended up going the distance and limited Wheeling to the one run on five hits with nine strikeouts. He issued two walks (118 pitches).
Abernathy got more than enough run support from the Mountain Lions. Concord scored in six of the nine frames, including three innings of three runs or more.
Dominguez led the Cardinals with two hits, including the RBI-double.
Sophomore pitcher Jared Naida (Cleveland, Ohio/Lakewood) was tagged with his first loss of the season. Naida (5-1) allowed six runs on six hits over 3.1 innings of work. The Cardinals entered the day 9-0 in game's started by Naida this season.
Concord's Nick Funk finished with a home run, two doubles and six RBIs to lead the Mountain Lions.
Wheeling will try to keep its season alive tomorrow, Friday, May 14 when it faces West Virginia State in an elimination game at 12 p.m.