Wheeling, W. Va. - On Tuesday, the Wheeling University Softball team (0-2, 0-0) opened the 2023 season with doubleheader action on the road against Seton Hill. The Cardinals continue their opening week schedule on Sunday, when they head to Bridgeport, West Virginia to battle Salem in doubleheader action beginning at 1 PM. The Cardinals had ups and downs in their first doubleheader of the year and look to fix some of their mistakes as they head into their second doubleheader of the year.

In their first doubleheader of the season, the team took on NCAA Division II College World Series qualifier Seton Hill and dropped both halves by scores of 7-0 and 12-3. Game one saw the Cardinals face a tough pitching matchup as they were held to just five hits and kept off the board. The Cardinals fell behind early after the Griffins scored a pair of runs in both the first and second innings and couldn't get anything going against Seton Hill's Lauren Dellet. In the second game of the day, the Cardinals once again fell behind 4-0 early on, but battled back with a three-run third inning to make it a one-run game. However, errors would end up being the death of the Cardinals, as they committed six team errors on the day and fell 12-3 in five innings.

Despite allowing nine runs in the second game, junior Jamie Anderson (0-1) led the pitching staff with just one of those runs being earned. After four unearned runs came across in the first, Anderson settled down and would retire eight batters in a row from the first to the fourth inning. She allowed just five hits in her game two start, while walking two and striking out two to put together one of the top pitching performances of the day. In game one, sophomore Randi Holder (0-0) got her season started strong coming in relief to keep the mercy rule from kicking in. After two wild pitches that brought home runs to start the inning, Holder settled down and threw 2.1 scoreless innings in the circle. She allowed just one hit during that stretch while allowing one free pass and striking out two.

On the offensive side, the Cardinals were led by senior Natalie Stoner, who combined to go 2-4 (.500) among the two games. She picked up the team's first stolen base of the season while hitting two singles to begin her season. Makie Paxson served as the Cardinal's leadoff hitter in game two and was in the two-spot for game one, finishing 2-5 (.400) with a run scored. She would score the Cardinal's third run of the afternoon and picked up where she left off after a strong freshman campaign. Mia Smallwood and Madison George picked up the Cardinal's first two extra base hits of the year, each finishing with a double, while Kelsi Green had the team's lone RBI to round out the day.

As the Cardinals continue through their non-conference schedule, they have several more regional challenges ahead. With matchups against IUP, Salem, and UINDY before the team heads down to Florida, the Cardinals are looking to clean up some of their mistakes from their opening doubleheader. The Cardinals went 7-8 through their 15 non-conference games to start last season and are looking for similar success this season. They head into Sunday's games looking for their first win of the season as they try to get momentum on their side to end February.

The Matchup

The Cardinals and Tigers are meeting for the sixth and seventh time in program history on Sunday, with Wheeling leading the all-time series at 4-1. The Cardinals have won the last two games between the two teams and have a record of 3-1 when they hit the road to face Salem. It has been an offensive driven series for the Cardinals, as they averaged 9.2 runs per game in the first five meetings and have never scored less than seven runs in any of those five meetings.

Their last meeting came in doubleheader action last season, when the Cardinals opened the year with a doubleheader sweep against Salem, winning by scores of 8-0 and 7-3. Former Cardinal Gina Fogle led the offense, combining to go 4-8 with four RBI across the two games while former Cardinal Autumn Oehlstrom went 3-5 with an RBI. Former Cardinal Aubrie Lafferty led the pitching staff, throwing six shutout innings in the second game of that doubleheader.

The Details

First pitch for Sunday's doubleheader is scheduled for 1 PM at the Bridgeport Sports Complex. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.