Pitching Staff Shuts Down Cardinal Bats in Sunday Baseball Sweep

FROSTBURG, Md. – The Frostburg State baseball team took care of the first day of their four-game series against Wheeling on Sunday afternoon, winning 3-0 and 5-2 across the doubleheader.

The Bobcats would go to sophomore Jack Ray, the current MEC ERA champion, to start game one against the Cardinals. He would start with some trouble on the basepaths, walking them loaded with two outs, but recovered to field a groundout to end the frame without any damage. His run support would come quickly with sophomore lead-off man Jackson Schalick crushing a ball to left to give the Bobcats a 1-0 lead. Senior Mikey Guy then doubled and classmate Doyle McNew drew a walk trying to add on, but a strikeout and infield pop up ended the frame.

Ray struck out the first batter of the second before allowing a two out single, being helped out by junior catcher Kade Abrisz catching the runner stealing to end the inning. Abrisz then led off the next half inning with a single into left but got stranded. A 1-2-3 Cardinal third brought FSU back to the plate, where McNew doubled on a liner to the first-base line, moving up to third on a grounder, then scoring on a wild pitch to move up 2-0. Continuing his strong outing, Ray sat WU down in order in the fourth and fifth, striking out another pair of batters in the process. 

After swiftly striking out the first two batters in the sixth, Wheeling finally got to Ray with back-to-back singles, ending his day with 5 2/3 innings of scoreless ball so far. Senior Nate Vermillion came on, entrusted to keep the Cardinals off the board and doing his job by getting a fly ball to left to preserve the lead. Redshirt freshman CJ Carmichael helped get a little breathing room in the bottom of the sixth with a one-out double into the gap in right-center. A WU error allowed him to move to third, where graduate Randy Steen laid down a perfect sac bunt to score the run for a 3-0 advantage. Down to their final chance at the plate, the first Wheeling batter was hit by a pitch to lead things off. Guy would help out his team in a big way, snagging a line drive mid-air and getting the runner on first with the force for a double play. A lazy fly ball to center ended the contest with FSU taking the 3-0 win, as Ray and Vermillion combined to only give up three hits. 

Freshman Zach Dodson earned the start in game two and worked a flawless first inning, setting WU down 1-2-3. In similar fashion to game one, the Bobcats wasted little time getting on the board, with Schalick drawing a lead-off walk and moving up on another Wheeling error. McNew and junior Jake Holler would follow one another with two straight RBI singles for a quick 2-0 lead. Coming on in relief of Dodson, junior Joe Pippin continued to keep the Cardinal bats quiet with a pair of strikeouts either side of another grab by Guy at third. 

Carmichael singled to start the second while WU had a pair of errors to put runners at the corners but were able to get out of trouble with a strikeout. The Cardinals would score their first run of the day using some small ball in the third, using back-to-back singles and a sac bunt to make it 2-1. In an attempt to tie the game in the fourth, Wheeling worked a one-out infield single before a 6-6-3 double play ended the threat. FSU would add a couple insurance runs in the fourth, with sophomore Logan Helser earning a walk and coming home on a two-run homer from sophomore Ryan Bouma that was followed by Carmichael hitting one of his own for a 5-1 lead. 

Entering the fifth in place of Pippin, freshman Hunter Layhew worked an efficient inning with a fly out, strikeout, and groundout before running into some bother in the sixth. A one-out single was followed by a strikeout as it seemed the inning would end without much fuss, however WU was able to rip a pair of hits to left and center, getting within 5-2 before another K brought the frame to a close. Carmichael reached base again on a walk and moved up on Steen's sacrifice bunt, but advanced no further, taking things into the seventh. Sophomore Bryce Hendricks was handed the ball to close things out, working around a lead-off walk with a strikeout, pop up, and groundout to pick up the save and preserve the three-run win. 

Ray and Pippin would pick up their fifth and sixth wins, respectively, on the day, while Vermillion and Hendricks earned their fourth and third saves. Carmichael led the FSU offense with four hits across the two games. 

With the wins, Frostburg is now 25-8 and 14-4 in Mountain East Conference play, while Wheeling drops to 9-22. The sides will face off again tomorrow, April 14 with a 1 PM doubleheader finishing off the series. Information and updates will be posted to frostburgsports.com.