WHEELING, West Virginia - With the regular season nearing its end Salem took the trip out to the home of the Wheeling University Cardinals to try and keep their postseason hopes alive. The Tigers came into this one off of a tough loss to Seton Hill in a nine-inning game on April 23rd hoping to bounce back.

SATURDAY

Game One

The Tiger's offense took the field to get things underway and was unable to get one across for an early lead, handing it over to Sam Schmitt and the Tiger defense in the bottom half. Schmitt came through with a scoreless first frame of play to keep the score level heading into the second. Once again Salem's bats couldn't seem to create scoring opportunities and the Tigers looked to their defense to keep the game knotted up. Wheeling began to find their swing in the second inning, tacking on five runs including two off of a homer from the Cardinals. The Tigers were able to get Aaron Forbes across home plate with a single from Jose Lojo to get their first run of the game, but they were unable to chip further away at the lead. Wheeling's bats stayed hot into the third where they knocked Schmitt out of the with one out and forced Salem to bring in Andrew Leginze to relieve him. Leginze was able to get out of the inning with only one runner scoring on his watch to make it 10-1 Wheeling. Salem was able to put another run on the board with a solo shot from Tyler Shinn, but they were unable to get sustained success with their bats. Leginze's afternoon proved to be short-lived as Salem turned it over to Zack Kendall for the fourth inning. The Cardinals were all over him, knocking him out of the game after recording just one out and surrendering three earned runs. Richie Preston came in to try and keep the deficit where it was which he was able to do, but the deficit had already grown to eleven runs. Salem looked like they may make a late run at the Cardinals. The Tigers put up their first multi-run inning of the day in the fifth when they scored three to make it 13-5 with six outs remaining for Salem. Preston continued to deal in the sixth and delivered a scoreless frame to keep Salem's comeback hopes alive. Unfortunately for the Tigers, their bats had cooled off by the time they were up again, resulting in a scoreless sixth for Salem. Kassidy Gaines sent in Jaxon Lehr for the seventh where he proved effective against the Cardinals by not surrendering a run. Salem tacked one more on in the seventh with a sac fly from Nathan Kuhn that scored Shinn from third, but that was it for Salem as the comeback effort was halted short in a 13-6 game one loss.

Game Two

As game two of the day got underway it was apparent the Tiger's lineup still needed to find their rhythm. This time around Salem sent out Frankie Gulko as their starter. Gulko struggled a little early, surrendering two runs to the Cardinals in the game-opening frame before settling in and holding them there. The Tigers allowed one more across in the third for Wheeling to make it a 3-0 deficit with plenty of time remaining for Salem to get the win. Gulko's day came to an end in the fifth when Salem brought in Conor Thiele from the bullpen who proved to be very effective against the Cardinals. Onto the sixth and Salem had six outs to make something happen and avoid falling into an 0-2 hole in the series. Nathan Kuhn tied it up with one swing of the bat resulting in a bases-clearing double that scored Tyler Shinn, Mackenzie Wainwright, and Jose Lojo to know things up and swing momentum in Salem's favor. Luis Angarita gave Salem their first lead of the day with an RBI double that scored Kuhn to make it 4-3. Thiele delivered another scoreless frame in the bottom of the sixth which turned things back over to the Tiger's batting lineup who was looking to tack on some insurance. Wainwright came through in the clutch for the Tigers with an RBI triple that scored Aidan McMurdo to give the Tigers a two-run lead heading into the bottom half of the seventh. Salem's closer, Jhayden Raineri, was tasked with completing the save for the Tigers to give them the Saturday split and he delivered, securing a 5-3 win for the Tigers.

SUNDAY

Game Three

With the series tied both teams came into the final day of the weekend looking to grab the first game and guarantee a worst-case scenario split with a chance at taking home a series win. Salem struck first this time around with an RBI single from Nathan Kuhn that scored Mackenzie Wainwright to make it 1-0. For game one of the afternoon, Salem's starter Travis Lavendier was tasked with working through the Cardinal lineup that had given the Tigers trouble at times the day prior. Lavendier worked through a scoreless first before giving up a solo home run in the bottom of the second that tied the game up at 1-1. The Cardinals continued to stay hot into the third where they tacked three on the board to make it 4-1 at around the halfway point and end Lavendier's outing. Salem brought in Andrew Leginze for his second outing of relief in as many days and he showed no signs of fatigue from Saturday. Leginze pitched three innings of zero-run ball which allowed the Tigers to stay within striking distance. Salem sent another runner across home when Jose Lojo scored Hunter Rose with an RBI single to make it a two-run game, but the comeback effort was halted there as Salem was unable to get over the hump resulting in a 4-2 loss which meant the Tigers needed to win game four for a series split.

Game Four

For the final game of this regular season matchup Jaryd Lund took the mound for the Tigers in the bottom of the first after a scoreless top half of the inning for the Tigers. Wheeling was able to manufacture a run in the first, but the Tiger defense held them there before turning things back over to the batting lineup. After a quiet second inning from both teams, Salem came alive in the third. The Tigers scored four runs in the frame to grab a commanding lead early and put themselves in the driver's seat. Wheeling got two runs back in the bottom of the third before Lund got out of the inning to end his day with the lead, giving himself an opportunity for the win if Salem could hold on to their lead. Salem scored another in the fourth when Brett Ehr reached home on a wild pitch before Tyler Shinn put three more on the board with a bomb to score Jose Lojo and Mackenzie Wainwright and make it 8-3 Salem. In the bottom of the fourth Salem looked to Colby Scheuber to maintain Salem's big lead and keep momentum in their favor. Scheuber came up huge with two innings of no-hit ball to keep the Tiger's hopes of a split very much alive. Onto the fifth and Salem continued to stay hot, sending two more runs across the plate to make it 10-3 Tigers. Shinn's bat remained red hot in the sixth when he delivered his second home run of the afternoon that scored Wainwright and made it 12-3 Tigers. With Scheuber's day done after recording six outs, Salem looked to Hunter Rose for the sixth who was able to deliver another clean frame of work for the Tigers. Wheeling made a monstrous comeback effort in the seventh, scoring eight runs including four off of a grand slam and working through two Tiger pitchers in the game's final inning, but the Tigers prevailed, winning the game 12-11 and coming away with a series split before returning home.

Salem will be back at their home field on Friday, May 3rd for a doubleheader against Notre Dame College for their final two home games of the regular season.