GREENSBURG, Pa. (Feb. 24) - The Wheeling Jesuit University softball team opened the season with a pair of losses at Seton Hill Sunday afternoon. The Cardinals lost 8-0 (six innings) in the opener, before narrowly being defeated 7-6 on a walk-off in game two.
Wheeling Jesuit (0-2) senior
Courtney Rogers (Hurricane, W.Va. / Hurricane), senior Jackie Kramer (Indian Head, Pa./Connellsville) and junior
Brianna Grimes (Mason, Ohio/Mason) all finished with three hits on the day to lead the team. Both Rogers and Grimes added two RBI in the game two loss.
The Cardinals stranded six runners In the team's 8-0 loss to open the season and were unable to capitalize on a bases loaded, one-out situation in the fourth inning. Meanwhile, the Griffins plated runs in three different innings, including a three-run sixth inning that concluded the contest early.
Seton Hill looked on its way to a second win early in the night cap when it opened up a 6-0 lead after two innings played. The Cardinal pitching staff settled in after the rough start and kept the Griffins scoreless over the next four innings.
Wheeling Jesuit rallied to tie the game at six with four runs in the fifth and two more in the sixth. The Cardinals got on the board behind an RBI-triple by sophomore Alana York (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) and another base-hit by Grimes to make the score 6-2. Two batters later Rogers sent a pitch over the center field fence for a two-run home run that brought the Cardinals within two runs in the fifth inning.
WJU tied the game up in the sixth inning behind RBI-doubles by both Kramer and Grimes, but left the potential go-ahead run in scoring position. Seton Hill retired the Cardinals in order in the seventh and led their half of the frame off with a double. With a pinch-runner in place, the Griffins scored the game-winning run with the help of a throwing error to end the game.
Freshman
Kelsey Barron (La Salle, Mich. / St. Mary Catholic Central) was saddled with the game two loss in her collegiate-debut. She threw 6.0-plus innings and yielded seven runs (three earned) on nine hits with three strikeouts.
The Cardinals' next scheduled games are at the PFX Spring Games in Clermont, Florida starting on Friday, March 1.
