The Wheeling Jesuit baseball team opened WVIAC play with a doubleheader sweep of Ohio Valley University in Fort Pierce, Fla. The Cardinals won the day game 4-1 and secured the nightcap by a score of 2-1. The Jesuit pitching staff limited OVU to seven hits in two games while the Cardinals sent 14 hits into the yard.
“Anytime you win two games in a day, it’s a good day,” said Head Coach Terry Edwards. “Once again, our pitching was outstanding. We gave our pitchers a little breathing room in game one, however game two went down to the final out.”
“Certainly glad to get two conference wins, but we need to find away to produce more runs for our pitching staff,” Edwards added. “I think we are improving as a team. We just need to play more consistently day in and day out during the course of a long season.”
Jesuit opened the game with a pair of doubles sandwiched by a single, which led to a 2-0 advantage at the end of the first inning. The Cardinals added a run in the fourth and in the sixth, while OVU scored their lone run in the fifth.
Jordan Kraus started the Cardinals’ offense with a double to left centerfield, and Andrew Nemecek followed with a RBI single through the left side. Robbie Davia plated Nemecek with the inning’s second double, and the Cardinals led 2-0.
The Cardinals extended the lead to 3-0 in the fourth when Jason Troy blasted a double to left field, and scored on a Tom Charles RBI single. The Fighting Scots answered with an unearned run in the fifth, but Jesuit crossed the plate in the top of the sixth.
Corey Hall started the inning with a walk, and after being moved into scoring position by Troy’s sacrifice bunt, scored the final run on a RBI single by Charles.
Starting pitcher Steven Buffo earned the game one win, throwing 5.1 innings while recording six strike outs, four walks, two hits and one unearned run. Brenden Gillies finished the game, earning the save with 1.2 innings of relief, two strike outs, one hit and one walk.
In the nightcap, Wheeling Jesuit scored two runs in the first inning and held on for the 2-1 victory behind stellar mound performances by Kraus and Michael McDonald. Kraus started the seven inning affair, throwing six complete innings, giving up four hits, one walk, and one unearned run while striking out eight batters. McDonald earned the second save of the day, throwing the final inning of game, allowing one hit and striking out one.
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