Wheeling, W. Va. – After pushing their weekend doubleheader back a day due to inclement weather, the Wheeling University Softball team (6-24, 4-8) kicked off another weekend of Mountain East Conference (MEC) play when they hosted Frostburg State on Sunday. The two teams met at nearby Wheeling Park High School, but the Cardinals couldn't get it going as they dropped both halves of the doubleheader. Wheeling fell in both games, dropping the first game 5-3 and following it up with a 9-0 mercy rule loss to end the afternoon.

Game One: Frostburg State 5, Wheeling 3

The first game of the day saw Frostburg State jump out to an early three-run lead in the top of the first as Randi Holder got charged early. Holder bounxced back with a 1-2-3 top of the second and her offense responded in the bottom half of the inning. Jenna Hollerich singled to start the game and moved up to second on a groundout to put a runner in scoring position. Avonikah Salas followed with a single to move runners to the corners for Makie Paxson. Paxson came through with a single scoring Hollerich would score the first run of the game, but Salas was thrown out trying to score to end the inning. Wheeling trailed 3-1 after two innings of play. Holder would be charged with two more runs in the top of the third and Wheeling would trail 5-1 after three.

Wheeling would get back on the board in the bottom of the fourth after Hollerich walked to start the inning. Leah Klockowski would follow with a walk of her own and two batters later a fielder's choice made it two outs and runners on the corners. Stoner would move into scoring position with a stolen base, bringing up Paxson with another opportunity to come through with a big hit. Paxson would come back through with another two out single to score Hollerich and make it a 5-2 game. After giving up the five runs early, Holder settled in throwing up four straight zeros to end the day. She would throw her third complete game of the season as she lasted 7.0 innings allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits while walking one and striking out two.

The Cardinal's final run of the game came in the bottom of the sixth after Natalie Stoner singled with one out. Makie Paxson would walk following the single and Maddie Munoz would step in with one out and two on. She came through with an RBI single to score Stoner and make it a 5-3 game. A strikeout and a fielder's choice ended the inning and made it a two-run game. The Cardinals came back up in the bottom of the seventh and ended the game going 1-2-3 to end the game. The Cardinals would fall to 4-7 in conference play with the loss and would look for their first split of the season as they moved to game two.

Makie Paxson led the way for the Cardinals, going 2-4 with a pair of RBI on the day. She was the only multi-hit player for the Cardinals and continued her strong season from the top of the lineup.  Maddie Munoz drove in the other run for the Cardinals, going 1-3 with an RBI on the day to round out the offense. Madison George, Anna Florczak, Avonikah Salas, and Jenna Hollerich each added singles to end the day.

Game Two: Frostburg State 9, Wheeling 0

The second game of the day saw Frostburg State continue their offensive success, scoring at least one run in every inning. They began with a pair each in the first and second to take a 4-0 lead. Maria Clark would get the start for the Cardinals and went 2.2 innings allowing five runs, four earned, on seven hits while walking a batter. Abby Bumbico came along in relief in the top of the third and would be scored up on in all three of her innings. She lasted 3.2 allowing four runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out a batter. When all was said and done, Frostburg state had built a 9-0 lead heading into the bottom of the sixth, setting up the mercy rule situation for the team. The Cardinals came to bat in the bottom of the 6th looking to score at least two runs to keep the game alive.

The Cardinals had not gotten a hit to that point, and Head Coach Sara Pelegreen would pinch hit Cassie Feyh to start the inning. Feyh would send a slow roller to short and beat out the throw for a single to start the inning. Candela Garcia Cabedo would pop out for the first out of the inning before Makie Paxson gave the Cardinals their second runner of the inning after walking. However, a pair of flyouts would end the inning and the Cardinals would fall to the Bobcats 9-0. The Cardinals dropped to 4-8 in the conference and managed just the one hit on the day.
Feyh would finish 1-1 on the day and finished with the lone Cardinals hit. Wheeling now heads into their second half of the weekend doubleheader on Monday looking to erase those two losses.

The Wheeling University Softball team returns to action on Monday, April 3rd, when they host Fairmont State at 4 PM. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.