WHEELING, W.Va. (April 14) – Redshirt-freshman Autumn Oehlstrom's (Lisbon, Ohio/David Anderson) league-leading seventh home run of the season helped the Cardinals earn a 3-1 win in game two and a split with Mountain East Conference (MEC) South Division-leading Charleston Wednesday afternoon at the JB Chambers Complex.
 
The Wheeling University softball team (9-21, 6-11 MEC) got a solid outing from freshman pitcher Casey Kemp (Blanchester, Ohio/Little Miami) in the win. She tossed a complete game and limited Charleston (20-6, 13-3 MEC) to one run on six hits to earn her second win this week. Kemp also threw four innings of shutout ball in relief in the game one loss.
 
Game two was tied 1-1 in the third inning when Oehlstrom took an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence to give the Cardinals the lead. She would later score on a double in the fifth inning by freshman Anna Florczak (Indianapolis, Ind./Lawrence North) to add an insurance run and make the score 3-1.
 
Oehlstrom led the Cardinals with a home run, two RBIs, and two runs scored. Florczak posted two hits, including a double, and an RBI, while junior Heather Pinney (North Canton, Ohio/North Canton Hoover) finished the two hits, including a double.
 
Wheeling fell into a 4-0 hole in game one, but made things interesting late. Freshman Cassi Roman (Chino Hills, Calif./Ayala) got the Cards on the board in the sixth inning with an RBI-double, before an Oehlstrom single brought the potential game-tying run to the plate. Unfortunately, a strike out ended the threat and the score remained 4-1.
 
Wheeling plated another run in the seventh inning on a sacrifice fly by redshirt-freshman Alisa Shelt (Wauseon, Ohio/Wauseon) and brought the potential game-tying run to the plate once again with a runner on third base, but a ground out ended the threat and the game at 4-2.
 
Florczak led the team with two hits, including a double, and one run scored in the loss.
 
On Tuesday afternoon the Cardinals were dealt a pair of non-conference losses at Slippery Rock. Wheeling lost 4-1 in the opener, before being dealt a 6-3 loss in the nightcap.
 
Freshman Brooke Slomkowski (Toms River, N.J./East) connected on two hits in the second game, while sophomore Gina Fogle (Toronto, Ohio/Toronto) had two hits, including a two-RBI double in the seventh inning.
 
The Cardinals return to the JB Chambers Complex on Saturday, April 17 to host West Virginia Wesleyan for a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m.