NUTTER FORT, West Virginia - With their big win over Glenville State in the rearview mirror, the Salem baseball team was set for a three game series with the Cardinals of Wheeling University. Salem got the first two games of the series on Saturday, but the lone Sunday game had to be called off due to snow. The two Saturday games played out as follows:

Wheeling 1, Salem 0

In Game 1, it was a fast paced contest that featured a defensive battle between the Tigers and Cardinals. On the bump for Salem was Sam Schmitt, and he had as good of an outing as you can ask for. Schmitt went the distance for the Tigers, and recorded 8 strikeouts while allowing just 5 hits. Unfortunately, the Cardinals were able to record a single run off of a base hit in the fourth inning, and they took the contest 1-0. 

Wheeling 7, Salem 4

For the second contest of the day, the Tigers had their work cut out for them early as the Cardinals added 3 runs in the third. Salem responded with a Luis Angarita RBI single in the bottom of that same inning. Wheeling added 3 more runs in the fourth. In response, Salem mounted their comeback bid in the 6th. It was fueled by three RBI singles off the bats of Brett Ehr, Ethyn Barnitz, and Jacob Hurley. However, Wheeling added one more run in the 7th which put the Tigers in a tough spot in the bottom of the final inning. They were down 3 runs with just three outs to work with. They made a valiant effort with singles from Tyler Shinn and Ben Matos. Collin Curry then got on with a Wheeling error to load the bases. However, Salem could not quite find a way to bring their runners home, and they fell to the Cardinals 7-4.

While Saturday's contests did not go the Tigers way and snow in Nutter Fort stole the chance for a win in the finale, Salem should still be able to get back on track in their next contest. They are set for a one-off contest with the Glenville State Pioneers at home on March 14th at 3 PM.