Over the weekend, the Wheeling Jesuit baseball team (4-7, 2-1 WVIAC) opened conference play against Fairmont State University (1-13, 1-2 WVIAC) at Knight Baseball Complex in Toronto, OH. The Cardinals won Saturday’s twinbill by scores of 6-4 and 10-3, but failed to complete the series sweep, dropping Sunday’s 9-inning affair by a score of 15-10.
On Sunday, Wheeling Jesuit was trailing by two runs heading into their first at bat and cut the Falcon lead in half when Dominic San Felippo blasted a triple into the right center gap, scoring Ricky Szeligo who reached on a free pass. The following inning Jordan Kraus and Tom Charles plated runs, giving the Cardinals their first lead – Kraus reached on a fielding error and Charles singled.
The Falcons battled back, scoring two runs in the third and one in the fourth and taking a 5-3 advantage, but the Cardinals answered. In the bottom of the fifth, Ryan Venderlic connected with a deep fly ball which was too much for the center fielder to handle and ended up at second base. Szeligo took full advantage of the Falcon miscue and drove in Venderlic with an RBI single to left field.After Mike Ludewig watched four pitches, San Felippo collected three RBIs as he sent the ball flying over the left field wall, grabbing a 7-5 advantage.
Once again, the Falcons tied the game, 7-7, and the Cardinals answered. Wheeling Jesuit plated their final three runs in the sixth, making the score 10-7. Szeligo started the rally with a single followed by a single from Ludewig and a San Felippo RBI double. After San Felippo scored on a wild pitch, Kraus RBI single to right field sent Brenden Gillies across the plate for the Cardinals final run – Gillies reached on a fielders choice.
Fairmont State added a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings for an 11-10 advantage while surging for four runs in the ninth which proved to be too much for the Cardinals to overcome.
Wheeling Jesuit is scheduled to host a doubleheader against Concord University on Wednesday, March 23, beginning at 1:00 p.m.
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