GLENVILLE, W.Va. (April 28) – The Wheeling Jesuit University softball team closed out the 2019 season with a split versus UVa-Wise in a Mountain East Conference (MEC) doubleheader at the Sue Morris Complex Sunday. WJU opened the day with an 8-3 win, before falling 15-6 in game two.
 
The Cardinals conclude the season at 12-38 overall, 9-23 in the MEC. Meanwhile, the Cavs move to 16-16 in league play, 22-25 overall.
 
GAME ONE: Wheeling Jesuit 8, UVa-Wise 3
The Cardinals scored runs in four different innings and posted 14 hits in their win to open the day.
 
Senior Molly Welsh (Bethel Park, Pa./OLSH) doubled to lead the first inning off and later scored on a bunt to push across the first run. Junior Brianna Grimes (Mason, Ohio/Mason) followed with a two-run double to left that made the score 3-0.
 
UVa-Wise got two runs back in the second inning to draw within one run.
 
The Cardinals tacked on a run in the fourth when freshman Kelsey Barron (La Salle, Mich. / St. Mary Catholic Central) drove in Welsh for the second time in the game with a clutch two-out single that brought the score to 4-2.
 
WJU put the game away with a pair of two-run innings in the fifth and sixth, which included Grimes' second RBI-double of the game.
 
Freshman pitcher Madison Macy (Metamora, Mich./Lutheran Northwest) earned the win after holding the Cavs to three runs on six hits.
 
Grimes finished the game with two doubles and three RBIs, while Barron recorded three hits and two RBIs in the win. Welsh, sophomore Alaina York (Lower Burrell, Pa./Burrell) and junior Crystal Carrillo (Los Angeles, Calif./Warren) each had two hits, apiece.
 
GAME TWO: UVa-Wise 15, Wheeling Jesuit 6 (F/6)
The Cavs extracted revenge in the second game with a run-rule win in six innings.
 
UVa-Wise led 1-0 through three innings when they broke out for five runs in the fourth to take a 6-0 lead.
 
Wheeling Jesuit got one run back in the bottom half of the fourth on a two-out RBI-double by senior Courtney Rogers (Hurricane, W.Va./Hurricane) to get on the board.
 
Wise tacked on six more runs in the fifth to open up a 12-1 advantage.
 
The Cardinals battled back in the bottom of the fifth and staved off the run-rule with five runs to slice the Cavs' lead in half. A lead-off walk followed by a two-run home run from senior Taylor DiPerna (Coroapolis, Pa./OLSH) made the score 12-3. 
 
WJU had a runner on first with two outs later in the inning, before consecutive doubles from Barron and Grimes drove in two runs. Two batters later Carrillo got in on the action and plated a fifth run in the inning with an RBI-single to make the score 12-6.
 
UVa-Wise got three runs back in the sixth inning to put the pressure of the eight-run rule back on the Cards. WJU was retired in order in the bottom half of the sixth to clinch the win for the Cavs.
 
York led the team with two hits, while DiPerna finished with a home run and two RBI to lead the offense.
 
Grimes added an RBI and closed out the season with hits in 10 of her last 13 games, including five multi-hit games.
 
The loss in game two eliminated the Cardinals from contention for a MEC Tournament berth. This season will mark the first time in program history that Wheeling Jesuit did not reach the MEC Tournament.