Wheeling, W. Va. - Over the first 15 games of their 2022 season, the Wheeling University Softball team (7-8, 0-0) took on their non-conference schedule featuring teams like CAL-U, Edinboro, and East Stroudsburg. All that hard work they have put in has led them to Saturday when they open their Mountain East Conference (MEC) schedule with a pair of conference doubleheaders. They open the weekend on Sunday when they take on Notre Dame College at 1 & 3 and close the weekend on Monday against Alderson Broaddus at 3 & 5 PM.

On their most recent trip, the Cardinals headed down to Winter Haven, Florida where they played eight games in the span of five days. They went 3-5 during the stretch picking up some big wins and learning a lot about their team. They opened the week with a day one doubleheader sweep over Bloomfield College and Ashland University and picked up their third win in the first game on Thursday when they defeated Edinboro. The Cardinals had some strong performers on both sides of the ball during that trip and look to bring what they learned back to Wheeling to open their conference schedule.

The top performer for the Cardinals was sophomore Cassi Roman, who capped off her trip by winning the MEC's Softball Player of the Week Award. Roman went 10-27 (.370) during the week while hitting three home runs and driving in 12 RBI. With her effort, she enters the weekend leading the conference in RBI and is second in the conference with three home runs. Sitting right behind Roman in the RBI race is Brooke Slomkowski, who has driven in 11 runs this season. Slomkowski had a similarly good trip down in Florida, finishing the week hitting .347 (8-23) with two home runs and six RBI. Her biggest game of the trip came against Bloomfield, where she finished the day 3-3 with a home run and three RBI in her team's 16-7 win over the Bears.

In the circle, the standout performance of the week came courtesy of freshman Randi Holder in just her second career start. Holder tossed a complete-game three-hitter against Edinboro University on Thursday to earn her first collegiate win. Holder was hitting her spots throughout the night, walking just one, and head coach Caressa DeRossett talked about her backdoor curve as her biggest weapon. With Holder jumping into the mix with the likes of Madison Macy and Aubrie Lafferty, Wheeling is looking to put the right combination of players in the circle.

As Wheeling jumps into the heart of their conference schedule, they are looking to improve off their conference showing last season. In 2021, the team went 9-23 in conference play and ended up missing the conference tournament. They finished fifth in the MEC North Division and are looking to advance up the ladder this season. They are just three wins away from their season total from last season as this young group continues to mature and grow as they gain more experience together on the field.

The Match-ups

Notre Dame College: The Cardinals and Falcons are meeting for the 32nd time in team history as they open up their conference schedules. In the previous 31 games, Wheeling has had the advantage going 19-12 in those games but went just 1-3 against Notre Dame last season. The Cardinals have had more success against the Falcons at home, posting a 10-6 record in 16 games played at J.B. Chambers Softball Complex. In their most recent doubleheader, Wheeling split with the Falcons, winning the first game on a walk-off home run by Cassi Roman.

Alderson Broaddus: The Cardinals and Battlers will be meeting for the ninth time in team history in the second half of the weekend doubleheader on Monday. The Cardinals own the all-time series with a record of 7-1 against the Battlers and are 3-1 against Alderson Broaddus when Wheeling is the home team. They average six runs a game against the Battlers and won all four of the games they played against AB last season. Jamie Anderson led the way with a complete-game shutout in the second game of the doubleheader to headline the effort.

The Details

First Pitch for Sunday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1 PM at the J.B. Chambers Softball Complex. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.