Fairmont, W. Va. – After opening up the weekend taking a sweep at the hands of Frostburg State to start the weekend, the Wheeling University Softball team (7-39, 5-23) looked to bounce back on Sunday when they made the trip to Fairmont, West Virginia. The Cardinals had several big individual efforts, with four different Cardinals finishing with Multi-Hit efforts, but it wasn't enough as they were swept by Fairmont State. They fell in a pitcher's duel in game one 2-1 and ended the day in another close matchup as they fell 5-4.

Game One: Fairmont State 2, Wheeling 1

The first game of the day featured a pitcher's duel between Wheeling's Jenee Brodeur and Fairmont State's Caitlyn Kassay. Kassay would be up first, allowing one Cardinal base runner to reach in the top of the first, and Brodeur would return served with a 1-2-3 bottom of the first. After another zero from Kassay in the top of the second, Fairmont State would be the first on the board with two runs in the bottom half of the second. Brodeur finished her day with a scoreless third inning, keeping the Cardinals within striking distance. She would end up going 3.0 innings allowing just the two runs on two hits while walking a batter. Jamie Anderson would come on in relief in the bottom of the fourth and the Cardinals offense would get her the first run of the game in the top of the fifth. 

Makie Paxson singled to start the inning and Kelsi Green followed with a fielder's choice to replace her at first base. A sacrifice bunt by Maddie Munoz moved Green to scoring position and Madison George would bring her home with an RBI single that made it a 2-1 game. However, that is all the Cardinals would get as Anderson worked to keep Fairmont State off the board. She would do just that, throwing 3.0 scoreless innings while not allowing a hit. She walked two batters and struck out one to finish out the day, including a 1-2-3 bottom half of the sixth to bring the Cardinals back to the bat racks. Wheeling would get a runner on in the top of the seventh courtesy of a Makie Paxson single, but it wasn't enough as they fell 2-1.

Three different Cardinals finished with Multi-Hit games, led by freshman Madison George. George finished the day 2-4 at the plate with a pair of singles and the only RBI of the day. The other two Multi-Hit games came courtesy of Cassie Feyh and Makie Paxson, who each finished the day going 2-3. Wheeling would get one extra base hit on the day and looked to get their offense going as they headed into game two of the series.

Game Two: Fairmont State 5, Wheeling 4

Game two of the day would present another one run game, but with both offenses scoring more consistently. After Fairmont State scored first in game one, it was Wheeling who got the scoring started in game two as Maddie Munoz singled to start the first. Madison George followed with a single of her own and a passed ball allowed both runners to move up to second and third. Cassie Feyh would then step in and continued her hot streak as she layed down a safety squeeze bunt and brought home Munoz to make it a 1-0 Cardinal lead. Maria Clark would get the game two start and took the circle with the lead as she got out to a strong start. She allowed a leadoff single to start the bottom of the first, but was able to work around it to keep Wheeling ahead 1-0.

She added a scoreless second inning before Fairmont State got on the board to tie the game at 1-1 after three innings. Wheeling would quickly take the lead back in the top of the fourth as with two outs Clark helped her own cause with a double. Makie Paxson would follow with a walk and Munoz brought both runners home with an RBI single that scored Clark and made it a 2-1 Cardinals lead.  Clark would get the first out of the inning and allowed two singles before being pulled. She finished with 3.1 innings of work, allowing one run on four hits while walking two. Abby Bumbico would come in to pitch and got Wheeling out of the jam with their 2-1 lead in tact. Wheeling would add to their lead in the top of the fifth as Katie Sare drew a one-out walk to start the inning.

Natalie Stoner would pinch run and Jenna Hollerich would reach on a bunt single to put runners at first and second with one out. Kelsi Green would single to load the bases before an infield fly rule was called for the second out of the inning. Bumbico would then step in and helped her own cause with a RBI single that made it a 3-1 Cardinal lead. However, Fairmont State would add two in the bottom of the fifth and tied the game at 3-3 after five innings of work. Bumbico's day would come to an end after the fifth as she worked 1.1 innings of work, allowing the two runs on three hits while striking out a batter. In the top of the sixth, the first two Cardinals were retired, bringing up Cassie Feyh with two outs. She launched a solo home run to center field to make it a 4-3 Cardinal lead.

In the bottom of the sixth, Fairmont State was at it again, adding two runs against reliever Randi Holder and held a 5-4 lead heading into the top of the seventh. Kelsi Green would reach on a one-out error, but ended up being stranded as the Cardinals fell 5-4 to end the day. The offense was lively, putting up the most runs since April 12th against West Liberty, but it wasn't enough as they ended the day with a sweep.

The Cardinals had a pair of Multi-Hit efforts in the lineup, with Cassie Feyh leading the way with a 2-4 effort. She hit her third home run of the season and added two RBI on the day in the effort. She is now tied for fourth on the team with 12 RBI and has been a big part of the team's success this season. The other multi-hit effort came courtesy of Maddie Munoz, who finished 2-4 at the top of the Cardinals lineup. Wheeling has four more games left in the 2023 regular season and they will look to use those games to help them continue to grow.

The Wheeling University Softball team returns to action on Friday, April 28th, when they host Notre Dame College at Wheeling Park High School for their senior day, with first pitch at 1 PM.