NUTTER FORT, West Virginia- As the weather started to cool down again across the mountain state, the Salem Tigers baseball team had a weekend series against the Wheeling Cardinals. The series was originally supposed to take place at Wheeling, but due to weather the first day was played in Washington, Pennsylvania. The series closed out finally on Monday when the teams had to play at Nutter Fort. Salem was able to secure the first 3 wins to take the series and Wheeling secured the game 4 victory.

Salem 10, Wheeling 0
In game 1, the Tigers started out with Sam Schmitt on the mound. Aaron Forbes would get things rolling in the 1^st with a rbi single to score Aidan McMurdo. Hunter Rose followed that up with a 3 run homer in the top of the 4^th. As we headed into the 5^th, Salem had a 4-0 lead. Forbes added another rbi to his name in the 5^th. The Tigers had a huge 6^th inning and took complete control of this one scoring 3 runs. Luis Angarita hit a rbi double in the 7^th to score Forbes. Moments later, Jose Lojo was hit by pitch with the bases loaded to knock in another run. Sam Schmitt earned his 5^th win on the season and had 11 strikeouts. Salem secured the 10-0 victory over Wheeling.

Salem 6, Wheeling 4
In game 2, Jackson Thoma was the starter at pitcher for Salem. The Tigers picked up where they left off when Reese Rinna started the game with a rbi single to score Lojo in the 1^st inning. In the top of the 2^nd, Hunter Rose hit a 2 rbi triple to give the Tigers the 3-0 advantage. Rose would go onto score a moments later after a rbi groundout by Lojo. Wheeling would get back into this one in the 5^th after a double and a wild pitch occurred. The Cardinals were able to score 3 runs to make the game a Salem 4-3 advantage after 5 innings. In the top of the 6^th, Aidan McMurdo scored a couple of insurance runs off a single to left field. Rose and Angarita would score on the play. Salem had a 6-3 lead as we headed into the final inning. Wheeling was able to make things interesting with a rbi single and got some more runners in scoring position. Fortunately, the Tigers would close the game out strong to take the 6-4 victory. Thoma earned his 2^nd victory on the season.

Salem 6, Wheeling 2
In game 3, the Tigers returned home where Conor Thiele had the start on the mound. The Tigers bats got going early and often when Reese Rinna hit a rbi single to start things off. Ryder Costa followed that up with a single with the bases loaded. Max Atkinson hit a huge double to center field with the bases loaded resulting in 3 runs. Wheeling answered back in the bottom of the 1^st with a solo shot the left field. However, after the 1^st inning Salem already had a 5-1 lead. The Cardinals scored their second run of the day in the 5^th. The Tigers would close things out strong in this one scoring another run in the 7^th when Rinna hit a sac fly to score McMurdo. Thiele earned the victory and remained undefeated on the season. Salem defeated Wheeling 6-2 in game 3 of the series.

Wheeling 8, Salem 3
In the final game, it was Wheeling who got off to the good start with a rbi single in the 1^st. A couple of costly mistakes by the Tigers would lead to 3 more Wheeling runs across the 2^nd and 3^rd inning. The Cardinals would add onto that after a rbi triple and single in the 4^th inning led to 2 more runs. Wheeling had a commanding 6-0 lead after 4 innings, while holding the Tigers hitless. However, Reese Rinna would end that after a solo shot to right field. Max Atkinson would add to that with a rbi single. Wheeling still maintained a 6-2 lead. In the top of the 6^th, Aaron Forbes hit a sac fly that scored McMurdo. However, the Cardinals would score a couple insurance runs in the bottom of the 6^th to take the 8-3 lead. Wheeling was able to close the game out strong to take the 8-3 victory and avoid the sweep.

After a successful series, the Tigers are improved to 15-15 on the season. The Tigers will now prepare for the next series which occurs on Saturday as the Tigers play host to the Fairmont State Falcons at Frank Loria Memorial Field.