WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (March 2) – The Wheeling University softball team opened up its Florida trip at The Spring Games with a 7-0 win over Seton Hill, before falling to Gannon 11-1 to close out play Monday on the campus of Polk State College.
 
THE MATCHUPS

• GAME 1 FINAL: Wheeling 7, Seton Hill 0
• Location: DiamondPlex Field C | Winter Haven, Florida
• GAME 2 FINAL: Gannon 11, Wheeling 1 (Final/5 Innings)
• Location: DiamondPlex Field E | Winter Haven, Florida
• Records: Wheeling 2-2 | Seton Hill 4-7 | Gannon 4-5

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. Seton Hill

• Behind a three-hit, complete-game shutout by sophomore pitcher Madison Macy (Metamora, Mich./Lutheran Northwest), the Cardinals earned a 7-0 win to open play in Florida.
• Wheeling allowed Macy to pitch with the lead right away when junior second baseman Heather Pinney (North Canton, Ohio/North Canton Hoover) came through with a two-out single that scored two runs in the top of the first.
• The Cardinals added to their lead in the fourth when sophomore shortstop Taylor Hradek (Perry, Ohio/Perry) took a 1-2 pitch down the right field line to score senior first baseman Ashley Ledbetter (Staley, N.C./Eastern Randolph) from second base to make the score 3-0.
• Wheeling put the game away in the seventh with four runs, including a three-run home run by Pinney that made the score 7-0.

GAME NOTES

• Macy (1-1) limited the Griffins to three hits, struck out two and yielded just one walk to earn the shutout (72 pitches).
• Pinney led the team at the plate with a 3-for-4 performance that included a home run and five RBIs.
• Hradek, Ledbetter, senior third baseman Brianna Grimes (Mason, Ohio/Mason) and freshman left fielder Abby Bumbico (Martins Ferry, Ohio/Martins Ferry) finished with two hits, apiece.
• Both Hradek and Bumbico added an RBI to their final lines.

HOW IT HAPPENED vs. Gannon

• The Golden Knights scored in four of the five innings played to earn an 11-1 run-rule win over Wheeling in the nightcap.
• Gannon took the lead in the top of the first inning with two runs to put the Cardinals in an early hole.
• Wheeling sliced the lead in half in the second inning when freshman right fielder Autumn Oehlstrom (Lisbon, Ohio/David Anderson) hit a ball in-front of the plate and beat out the throw by the Gannon catcher with two outs to plate Hradek from third.
• The Cardinal offense was limited to a pair of fifth inning hits, while the Golden Knights posted a run in the third, five in the fourth, and three more in the fifth to end the game early.

GAME NOTES

• Bumbico (1-1) was saddled with the loss after allowing eight runs (seven earned) on nine hits over 3.2 innings of work.
• Oehlstrom led the Cardinals at the dish with base hits in all three of her plate appearances with a RBI.
• Grimes added two more hits to finish the afternoon 4-for-7 between the two games.

UP NEXT

• The Cardinals will continue play at The Spring Games tomorrow, Tuesday, March 3 when they take on Felician University at 9:15 a.m. and Concordia-New York at 11:30 a.m.
• A live stats feed will be available for both games tomorrow and the rest of the week here.
• FloSoftball will live stream all of The Spring Games here (PPV).