Wheeling, W. Va. - After building a young talented roster over the last two seasons, the Wheeling University Softball team is gaining experience heading into 2025. On Tuesday, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) released their annual Softball preseason poll, and the Wheeling Softball team were picked #4 in the MEC North in a vote of the team's coaches. With a roster consisting of seven juniors and seniors, the Cardinals look to tap into some of that veteran leadership as they look to get back to the MEC Tournament for the first time since the 2018 season.
2024 was another growing year for the Cardinals, who featured a young roster, and the team took steps forward on the field. They finished 10-44 overall, adding three wins onto their total from 2023, and went 4-24 in conference play. They picked up their first win of the season in just their second game, splitting the opening doubleheader with Hillsdale, and earned their first doubleheader sweep to close out February when they took down Ursuline. They added one more win against Salem before heading into conference play and they battled a tough conference schedule. The Cardinal's first conference win would come on April 7th with a 5-2 win over Glenville State, and it started a string of four straight doubleheader splits. Their final win of the season came in a 6-4 win over Salem to end the year and they look to use that momentum to start 2025.
Some of the young players from last year's team who broke through will move into leadership roles on the 2025 team. Leading the offense will be sophomore Madison Kay, who finished her freshman season hitting .246 with five home runs and 16 RBI. She was the Cardinal's leader in home runs a season ago, while sitting second on the team in RBI as she continues to be a strong bat in the middle of the lineup. In the circle, the Cardinals will have a revamped pitching staff, led by junior Tessa Wise. Wise appeared in 22 games for the Cardinals last season, making 19 starts, while holding a 9.23 ERA over 70.0 innings of work. Chyla Miller and Grace Mummery will each also see heightened roles in 2025 and look to build off their freshman season.
Leading the way in the MEC North Division Preseason Poll is Fairmont State, earning eight first place votes and a total of 44 points. The University of Charleston would take the top spot in the MEC South, finishing with eight first place votes and 53 votes overall. The rest of the 2025 MEC Preseason Softball Poll looks like this:
MEC North
1. Fairmont State - (8) 44
2. Frostburg State - (3) 37
3. West Liberty - 29
4. Wheeling - 16
5. Point Park- 14
MEC South
1. Charleston- (8) 53
2. Davis & Elkins - (3) 47
3. Glenville State - 34
4. Concord - 29
5. West Virginia Wesleyan - 18
6. West Virginia State - 15
The Wheeling University Softball team kicks off their season on Thursday, February 13th, when they host The University of Indianapolis at the Highlands Sports Complex.
