Wheeling, W. Va. – With rain in the forecast for Wednesday evening, the Wheeling University Softball team (9-37, 4-18) moved their doubleheader against West Liberty to Tuesday evening. It was a classic battle between the two rivals in the final "The Battle for Wheeling" for the 2024 season with each team picking up a win. Game one saw the Cardinals pick up a walk-off 5-4 victory in eight innings in game one while they dropped the second half of the doubleheader 7-1 to round out the day.

Game One: Wheeling 5, West Liberty 4

The first game of the day saw a lot of back and forth late between the two teams, but early on the Cardinals controlled the pace. Ryleigh Peters got the game one start and would end up being a key piece to both games for the Cardinals on the day. She held West Liberty at bay over the first two innings of work, and her team would pick her up in the bottom of the second when Cassie Feyh was hit by a pitch to start the inning. Two batters later, Maddie Munoz would reach on an error that allowed Feyh to scamper to third, putting runners at the corners and one out. Freshman Grace Mummery would step in and delivered a two-out two run single that brought home both Feyh and Munoz and the Cardinals were staked to a 2-0 lead after two innings of play.

However, a three-spot by the Hilltoppers in the top of the third would quickly flip the script as the Cardinals found themselves behind 3-2. Peters would settle in from there, throwing up four straight zeros to keep the Hilltoppers at just three runs through seven innings. The Cardinals were able to tie the game in the bottom of the fifth after Makie Paxson walked to start things off. Natalie Stoner added a single and the Cardinals would get the third run on a wild fielder's choice. Chyla Miller would hit a ground ball to the shortstop who though she tagged Paxson running by. However, West Liberty ended up missing the tag and Paxson took advantage of the confusion coming home. That would make it a 3-3 game and that would be the score that held after seven innings as the game went to extra innings.

In the top of the eighth inning, West Liberty would get the first run of extra innings as Kayla Mancus doubled to make it 4-3 game. Wheeling would need to push at least one across in the bottom of the eighth to keep the game alive and with one out Madison Kay stepped to the plate. She would deliver with a solo home run over the right field wall and the Cardinals would tie the game at 4-4. Two batters later, Maria Clark delivered a two-out single and Mummery came to the plate. She sent a fly ball deep to centerfield and it ended up clearing the centerfielders head, allowing Clark to score from first and give the Cardinals a 5-4 win. It was their first walk-off win of the season as they took game one from the Hilltoppers 5-4.

Leading the way for the Cardinals was Mummery, who finished 2-3 with a double and three RBI, including the walk-off winner. She was responsible for three of her team's five runs on the day, and delivered her first career walk-off hit. Madison Kay would add the game-tying home run in that eighth inning and added a 2-4 mark in the middle of the order. Maria Clark would be the final Cardinal to pick up multiple hits on the day, going 2-4 to round out the effort. The Cardinals would look to get their first Mountain East Conference (MEC) doubleheader sweep of the season.

Game Two: West Liberty 7, Wheeling 1

After the wildness of extra innings in game one, that back and forth would continue in game two of the day. West Liberty would push Across the first twoo runs of the game in the top of the first to take a 2-0 lead, but the Cardinals would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the first. After the first batter was retired, Chyla Miller would step in and single and Anna Florczak would follow with a hit by pitch to put runners at first and second with one out. Cassie Feyh would step in and hit a fly ball to right field that was dropped, allowing runners to advance to second and third. However, as the throw came in, it went wild and Miller would come home as the Cardinals cut West Liberty's lead to 2-1 after one inning.

However, the Hilltoppers were able to score in all but one inning of the day and it was enough to build a 7-1 lead. After throwing a complete game and amassing the 120 pitch mark in game one, it was once again Ryleigh Peters who took center stage in game two. Tessa Wise got the start and threw the first two innings before Peters took the ball for the final five innings of work. Peters would last 5.0 innings, allowing three runs, one earned, on six hits while not walking or striking out batters. Between the two games, Peters would throw 13.0 innings allowing seven runs, five earned, on 14 hits while walking two and striking out nine. Wheeling would come to the plate in the bottom of the seventh, but were unable to push across a run as they fell by the final score of 7-1.

Chyla Miller would lead the Cardinals, going 1-3 with the lone run scored on the day for the Cardinals. She continued her recent string of success at the plate for the Cardinals in the #2 spot. Madison Kay and Anna Florczak would add the final two hits for the Cardinals as they rounded out the day.

The Wheeling University Softball team returns to action on Friday, April 20th, when they host Frostburg State in a senior day doubleheader at 12 PM.