Wheeling, W. Va. - After being on the road for the last two weeks, the Wheeling University Softball team (4-18, 0-0) returned home on Saturday afternoon as they kick-off the Mountain East Conference (MEC) opening weekend. Wheeling kicked things off with the first of two non-conference matchups with Salem University, and earned a split of the day before officially starting their MEC schedule on Sunday. The day began with Salem winning a back and forth matchup 6-5 before the Cardinals picked up the split with a 6-3 win in the second game of the doubleheader.
Game One: Salem 6, Wheeling 5
After Randi Holder was able to hold the Tigers off the board in the top of the first, the Cardinals offense got her run support in the bottom half of the inning. After the first batter of the inning was retired, Jenna Hollerich would start the inning with a hit by pitch and Madison Kay would single up the middle to put runners on first and second with nobody out. Cassie Feyh would follow with a single that loaded the bases with one out and a Fielder's Choice would keep them loaded with two outs. Grace Mummery would then step in and took advantage of a Tiger error as Kay came around to score to give Wheeling a 1-0 lead. Kelsi Green would follow and another Tiger error would bring home Feyh and the Cardinals went up to a 2-0 lead.
However, in the top of the 2nd inning, Salem's offense responded, putting five runs on the board and flipping the score to take a 5-2 lead after an inning and a half. Tessa Wise would come in relief and got the final out of the inning and steadied the Cardinals for the rest of the day. She ended up throwing 5.2 innings of work, giving up one run on five hits while walking three and striking out three. It was the second time this season that Wise has allowed one earned run or less in a game, and the first time since February 11th, and gave her team a chance to battle back in the game. In the bottom of the third, the Cardinals would begin to battle back as Feyh started the inning with a single.
Anna Florczak would then reach on a fielding error and put runners at second and third with nobody out. A second throwing error on the play would allow Feyh to score and made it a two-run game at 5-3. Mummery would follow with a single and stole second to put two more runners in scoring position, with still one out. Green would bring home her first RBI of the day when she grounded out, allowing Florczak to score and make it a 5-4 game.
Salem added one more run in the top of the sixth and the Cardinals would respond with an RBI single from Natalie Stoner in the bottom of the inning to make it a 6-5 game. With the score still standing at a one-run game, Wheeling would threaten to tie things up in the bottom of the seventh. With two outs, Chyla Miller would single up the middle and Rayn Casassa would try to score. She was thrown out at the plate and the game would come to an end with the final score of 6-5 as Salem took game one of the doubleheader.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Natalie Stoner, who finished 2-4 with an RBI on the day. It was the second straight game where Stoner ended with an RBI as she continues to be a spark plug at the top of the Cardinal lineup. Cassie Feyh would be the other Cardinal to end with two hits on the day, going 2-4 with a pair of runs scored while Grace Mummery, Chyla Miller, and Katie Sare each got hits to round out the day. The Cardinals offense was strong and looked to get back to action in game two.
Game Two: Wheeling 6, Salem 3
The second half of Saturday's doubleheader would see the Cardinals end freshman Ryleigh Peters to the circle as she looked to build on her strong freshman campaign. She was charged with three runs over the first two innings of work, but after that began to settle in in the circle. She would go on to allow just one more hit the rest of the way as she picked up her team-leading fourth complete game of the season. She would end up throwing 7.0 innings, allowing three runs on four hits while walking four and striking out six. The win improved her record to 2-5 on the young season as she has stood out as a fixture of the Cardinal pitching staff in 2024.
For the Wheeling offense, all their runs would come in the bottom of the second as the team was behind 3-0. Cassie Feyh would start things off with a walk and a Brooke Slomkowski single advanced runners to the corners with nobody out. Jenna Hollerich would then step in and single home Feyh as the Cardinals cut into the Tiger lead, making it a 3-1 game. Katie Sare would then walk to load the bases and Grace Mummery would line a single to move runners station to station and make it a 3-2 game. After back-to-back flyouts, Makie Paxson stepped in with two outs and the bases loaded and took advantage of a Salem fielding error.
She would reach on an error as Hollerich scored and tied the game at 3-3 as the bases remained loaded with two outs. Anna Florczak would be hit by a pitch to bring home the fourth run of the inning and Feyh would come up for a second time, drawing a walk to make it a 5-3 Cardinal advantage. The final Cardinal run would come courtesy of Slomkowski's second single of the inning, as she brought home Paxson and made it a 6-3 Cardinal advantage. Both pitching staffs would take over from there, as the team's combined for four hits over the final 4.5 innings as the Cardinals went on to win 6-3.
Leading the way for the Cardinals was Slomkowski, who finished 2-3 with a pair of singles and an RBI. The senior is now 4-8 (.500) over her last three games, driving in three RBI during that stretch as she has been a force off the bench for the Cardinals. The other RBI would come courtesy of Anna Florczak, Cassie Feyh, Jenna Hollerich, and Grace Mummery to round out the offense. Natalie Stoner would put together the other multi-hit game of the day, going 2-4 to round out the offensive effort.
The Wheeling University Softball team returns to action on Sunday as they open MEC play against Notre Dame College with first pitch at 11 AM and 1 PM. You can watch the action live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
