Wheeling, W. Va. – The Wheeling University Softball team honored their seniors on Sunday with special pre-game ceremony on the field. That magic continued into the game as Wheeling secured their first Mountain East Conference (MEC) sweep of the season. It was a combination of good pitching and timely hitting as they got a gem of a start in a 3-0 game one win and came back with timely hitting as they took down the Falcons 4-3 in game two.
Game One: Wheeling 3, Fairmont State 0
Game one saw the Cardinals get out to an early lead as the offense clicked on all cylinders in the first inning. After they honored their seniors before the game, it was those same seniors that got the offense rolling as
Gina Fogle started the game with a single and fellow senior
Taylor Hradek singled two batters later to put runners on the corners with one out. The Cardinals would then manufacture a run as Hradek took off for second and Fogle would score on the throw to make it 1-0. Hradek would then steal third before an
Autumn Oehlstrom walk and she would come home on a delayed steal attempt by Oehlstrom that made it 2-0.
Those two runs were more than enough runs for senior pitcher
Madison Macy as she took control of the game right from the get-go. She tossed a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the first and kept that momentum as she scattered four hits in the complete game effort. Her control was on point as she did not walk a batter and struck out a season-high six in the game. She had three 1-2-3 innings in the game and did not work with much traffic on the basepaths. It was one of Macy's best starts of the year as she showed up big for her senior day performance.
The Cardinals would get a big insurance run in the bottom of the third after a Fogle lineout started the inning.
Makie Paxson would draw a one out walk and
Taylor Hradek would ground out to move her into scoring position. That would bring up Autum Oehlstrom, who came through with a clutch two-out double that scored Paxson and made it a 3-0 Cardinals advantage. While Wheeling couldn't push another run across, they put pressure on the Falcons throughout the night, totaling seven hits h in and having at least one batter reach in six of the seven innings.
Senior
Alisa Shelt led the offensive attack going 2-3 and registering the only multi-hit game of the day for the Cardinals.
Autumn Oehlstrom drove in the only RBI of the day, finishing 1-2 with a double while
Brooke Slomkowski,
Taylor Hradek, and
Gina Fogle each added hits on the day. It was the first time Wheeling won the first game of a doubleheader since March 20th, when they took the first game of their doubleheader against Notre Dame College. They looked to use that momentum as they tried for their first MEC sweep of the season.
Game Two: Wheeling 4, Fairmont State 3
After throwing a gem in game one,
Madison Macy was called on again in game two to get the start. She dominated again through the first two innings, keeping the Falcons off the board and allowing just two hits during that span. However, her nine consecutive shutout innings would come to an end in the third as Fairmont State struck for a run and took a 1-0 lead. Macy finished the day throwing 2.1 allowing a run on four hits while striking out two. In total, the senior would throw 9.1 innings between the two games allowing just the one run and striking out eight. The Cardinals wouldn't let that run last as they were right back at it in the bottom of the third to tie the game at 1-1.
Alisa Shelt singled to start the inning and stole second before an
Anna Florczak pop out accounted for out number one.
Gina Fogle was next and she reached on an error that allowed Shelt to score and made it a 1-1 game. However, two groundouts would end things there and it was 1-1 after three innings. In the bottom of the fourth,
Autumn Oehlstrom would give the Cardinals the lead when she blasted her second home run of the season to right field to make it a 2-1 Cardinals lead. The back and fourth continued in the top of the fifth as Fairmont State battled their way ahead again with two more runs that made it a 3-2 game. The offense would look to find a way to fight back once again and earn a sweep.
After two quick outs,
Makie Paxson and
Taylor Hradek had back-to-back singles and
Autumn Oehlstrom drew a walk to load the bases with two away.
Brooke Slomkowski came to the plate and grinded through the at-bat bringing the count to 3-2. She then fouled off two tough pitches before lifting one into right field for a base hit. Paxson and Hradek would both score, but Oehlstrom was thrown out trying to get to third. Still, the damage had been done as Wheeling carried a 4-3 lead into the sixth inning.
Jamie Anderson, who entered in the fifth inning, was taxed with keeping the Falcons off the board and she did just that. She retired the final six batters she faced and helped Wheeling complete the sweep. It was their first doubleheader sweep in conference play since they swept this same Falcons team on April 2nd of last year.
Brooke Slomkowski led the Cardinals offense going 1-2 with a walk and two RBI on the day.
Autumn Oehlstrom added the solo home run and finished 1-2 with the one RBI.
Gina Fogle added a 1-3 effort as she chases down the 100th hit of her collegiate career, sitting just five hits away now.
The Wheeling University Softball team returns to action on Wednesday, April 27th when they host West Liberty with first pitch at 3 PM.
