Wheeling, W. Va. – On Sunday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) slate officially opened for the Wheeling University Softball team (4-18, 0-2). The Cardinals keep that MEC stretch going on Wednesday as they head up the hill to take on rival West Liberty with first pitch at 3 PM. The Cardinals look to bounce back after dropping their conference opening doubleheader on Sunday as they begin the 2024 "The Battle for Wheeling."
Last time out, the Cardinals hosted Notre Dame College in their 2024 MEC Opener at Wheeling Park High School. In game one, the Falcons offense came out strong, putting five runs on the board as the Cardinals recorded just one out. Head Coach Mallory Chapman would turn to the bullpen, and they did their job, shutting down Notre Dame College the rest of the way, allowing one run over the final 6.2 innings. The Cardinals would score two runs of their own during that span, but it wasn't enough as they fell to the Falcons 6-2 to start out the day. In game two, it took longer for Notre Dame to get going as the Cardinals blanked them through one inning of play. However, the Falcons would put seven runs on the board over the next two innings and enacted the Mercy Rule in the sixth. The Cardinals would get a run in the bottom of the fourth, but in the end they fell to Notre Dame College 9-1.
As conference play opened, Cassie Feyh kept her hot start going, combining to go 3-7 with a home run and two RBI on the day. Her home run and both her RBI would come in the first game of the day as she delivered a solo home run and an RBI single to account for her team's offense. She has been the Cardinal's offensive leader this season, and the weekend helped raise her average to .465 for the year. She leads the team in both batting average (.465) and RBI (16) while adding her first home run of the season this past weekend. She has had multiple hits in three of her last five games and enters the rivalry matchup riding a five-game hitting streak. As the Cardinals continue their MEC schedule, Feyh will look to be a leader as she tries to help the team to their first MEC win.
When the starting pitching faced their early challenges, the Cardinals would call to relief pitcher Tessa Wise to help get them out of sticky situations. The sophomore pitched strong in the circle throughout the weekend, allowing three earned runs over nine innings of work, on nine hits while walking four and striking out four. It was the third time this season that Wise had allowed two earned runs or less in an outing as she looks to help stabilize a Cardinal staff that has been tagged for runs this season. The Cardinals have also got a recent spark from Brooke Slomkowski, who has three RBI and is hitting .462 (6-13) over her last five games. She drove in the final run of the day in the team's 6-3 win over Salem, and has raised her average to .417 this season.
After playing their conference opening weekend at home, the Cardinals have a long road stretch ahead of them to end out the month. Each of their next five doubleheaders will come away from the I-470 Complex, with the team not returning to their home field until April 6th against Concord. Of those five doubleheaders, three of them will come against in-division opponents, including Wednesday's matchup with West Liberty, as the Cardinals look to climb the division standings. With the top four teams from both the MEC North and MEC South making this season's tournament, the Cardinals are looking to play strong down the stretch and punch their ticket to the tournament for the first time since 2018.
The Matchup
The Cardinals and Hilltoppers will be meeting for the 43rd and 44th times in program history, with the all-time series sitting dead even at 21-21. When the Cardinals play on the Hilltop, they have had more success, going 12-10 in 22 previous meetings, compared to a 9-11 mark at home. It has been a high-scoring series all-time, with the Cardinals averaging 4.12 runs per game while the winner has needed at least six runs in each of the last eight meetings between the two programs.
In their most recent meeting, the two teams split a doubleheader on the hilltop, with the Cardinals taking game one 10-8 before falling 10-5 in game two. In the first game, the Cardinals were led by Jenna Hollerich, who went 3-4 with two runs scored and a pair of RBI, while Maria Clark allowed two runs over 3.2 innings in the circle. In the second game, Cassie Feyh would lead the offense, going 2-4 with four RBI while Maddie Munoz added a two-hit effort.
The Details
First pitch for Wednesday's game is scheduled for 1 PM inside the Hilltopper Softball Complex at West Liberty University. You can watch the game live by clicking HERE or follow along with Live Stats by clicking HERE.
