AVON, Ohio – The Notre Dame College baseball team swept Wheeling Jesuit University in a four-game series played on Thursday and Saturday. The Falcons won their games by scores of 7-5 and 7-1 on Thursday and kept the winning streak going with 1-0 and 5-4 wins on Saturday.
 
NDC saw five pitchers throw throughout the end-of-week games. Ty Shoaff, Kenny Pierson and Tyler Gault all threw complete games while Chris Murphy and Todd Marshall split duties on the mound in the final game.
 
Shoaff struck out eight batters in the first game of the series, which was followed up by four strikeouts by Pierson. Pierson allowed just one run in his seven innings.
 
In the first game on Saturday, Gault pitched a shutout, striking out six and allowing just two hits. His ERA improved to a 3.37, which puts him in the top five in the Mountain East Conference among qualifying pitchers.
 
In the fourth game, Murphy started things off for the Falcons with four strikeouts in four innings. In the final three innings, Marshall came in to shutout the Cardinals while fanning six batters to earn the win.
 
Wheeling Jesuit and Notre Dame battled throughout the series with games being decided by two runs or less in three of the four contest. The back and forth started in the first game as the teams traded leads four times.
 
The Cardinals were the first to score, gaining a 2-0 lead in the second inning of the first game. In the bottom of the same inning, Notre Dame put up three runs to take its first lead. Both teams scored two runs in the third inning to make it a 5-4 advantage in favor of the Falcons. Nick Farrell hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to secure the win for his team.
 
In game two, with Pierson's strong pitching, NDC won by six runs. Zach Santoro started off the scoring with a two-RBI single in the second inning. Santoro's was just the first of a trio of hits which brought in multiple runs. Corey Miley and Zarek Simkovich also hit in two batters with one swing later in the game.
 
On Saturday afternoon, Gault had a no hitter going until the fifth inning as he shutout the Cardinals. Notre Dame won the game 1-0 after Matt Richards scored an unearned run, making a heads-up play when WJU's pitcher made a throwing error trying to pick off Miley at first base.
 
The final game was again a close contest. Wheeling Jesuit scored two in the second inning and kept their lead through the fourth after both teams scored to make it 4-3. Rick Phillips tied the game 4-4 in the fifth inning on a wild pitch. All signs pointed to extra innings late in the seventh inning after the first two at bats for NDC were ground outs.
 
With two outs on the board, Nick Farrell reached on an error. Simkovich drew a walk in the next at bat to move Farrell to second base. Miley then hit a walk-off single to center field to bring in Farrell to win the game 5-4.
 
Phillips, Miley and Farrell each recorded five hits in the four games. Phillips scored six runs throughout the series after getting on base a total of seven times, he led NDC with a .455 batting average against Wheeling Jesuit. Miley led the team with five RBIs, while fellow freshman Simkovich drove in four runs.
 
Notre Dame will next play a single, nine-inning game, at Lake Erie College. The game on Thursday, April 25, will start at 2 p.m.