Wheeling, W. Va. - As spring moves to April in the northern West Virginia panhandle, rain is set in the forecast for the next two days. Because of this, the Wheeling Softball team has announced that its upcoming doubleheader against West Liberty has been pushed to Thursday, April 7th, with first pitch scheduled for 3 & 5 PM. It will be the first two games of the classic Wheeling, West Virginia rivalry as the Cardinals will hit the road to face the Hilltoppers.
There has been a slew of changes to the Wheeling softball schedule this season due to inclement weather problems. Their most recent doubleheader against Frostburg State had to be pushed to Monday due to rain as Wheeling battled but dropped both games to the Bobcats. The Cardinals battled to score three runs in the top of the seventh before dropping game one 7-4 and scored first in game two before falling 12-1 to end the day and fell to 2-10 in Mountain East Conference (MEC) play. The Cardinals look to bounce back against their rivals on the road before returning home this weekend for the first time since mid-March.
Despite the pair of losses, the Cardinals got strong performances from a pair of Cardinals who found the long ball. In game one, Makie Paxson lifted the first home run of her collegiate career to get Wheeling on the board and finished the day 1-2 with that home run and RBI. In game two, Mia Smallwood was the one who went yard, hitting her first home run of the season, and accounted for the only Wheeling run in that game. Cassi Roman also found a new home at the top of the Cardinals lineup and finished going 3-7 with an RBI from the leadoff spot.
As the run for the MEC playoffs continues, Wheeling is looking to catch fire against some of their divisional opponents. So far in MEC North play, the Cardinals are 2-6 splitting two doubleheaders and being swept twice. They have six doubleheaders remaining against divisional opponents and are hoping for some revenge. After battling West Liberty Thursday, the Cardinals come back home for three straight doubleheaders, and hope some action in front of their home fans will be enough to ignite their spark and send them into the final three weekends of the regular season.
The Wheeling University softball team will head on top of the hill on Thursday with game one against the Hilltoppers scheduled for 3 PM, followed by game two at 5 PM.
