Fairmont, W. Va. - With rain scheduled to roll through the area over the weekend, the Wheeling University Softball team (9-37, 6-16) got their weekend started Thursday as they traveled to Fairmont State. It was a pair of one-run games for the Cardinals, coming down to the final at-bats, but in the end Wheeling dropped both halves of the doubleheader. Fairmont State would walk the Cardinals off in game one with a 7-6 win, and it would be a classic pitcher's duel in game two with Wheeling falling by a 1-0 score.
Game One: Fairmont State 7, Wheeling 6
The first game of the day was ruled by the offenses, with the teams combining for 13 runs over the seven innings in game one. It would be the Cardinals that struck first as Amber Morgan doubled to left-center field to get the Cardinals their first runner in scoring position. A sacrifice bunt from Grace Mummery would move the runner to third and she would come home as Brooklyn Sanders singled through the left side to give Wheeling a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals would turn to Kaylin Shields for the game one start and, after allowing three early runs, she settled in over the rest of the outing. Fairmont State would strike for two runs in the bottom of the second, and added their third run of the game in the bottom of the second to take a 3-1 advantage. The Cardinals would look for a response in their half of the third and got things started with a Brooklyn Sanders walk.
Two batters later, Ava Kresak would single to advance Sanders to second and Kylea Chapple would come on to pinch run. With two on and one out, Maria Clark stepped in and launched her second home run of the season over the left field wall. It was a three-run blast that would put the Cardinals on top 4-3, giving Shields the lead. Shields responded with three straight zeros and the Cardinal offense was right back at it in the top of the fourth. It was an Amber Morgan walk that would get things started and she would use her speed to steal her way into scoring position. Mummery would step in and brought her home with an RBI double that extended the Cardinal's lead to 5-3. Sanders would follow reaching on an error that moved Mummery to third, and she would come home to score to make it a 6-3 Cardinal lead.
Shields would end up retiring the next six batters she faced, with 1-2-3 inning in the fourth and fifth innings, but two more Falcon runners would come across in the bottom of the sixth. Shields would get a flyout with a runner at third and two outs to keep the game tied and the Cardinals would look to add on in their half of the seventh. However, Fairmont State reliever Allyson Nordling would hold the Cardinals at bay, keeping the score at 7-6 heading to the bottom of the seventh. However the first three Cardinals of the inning would reach and the team immediately tied things at 6-6. After Shields got the first out of the inning, a wild pitch moved runners to second and third and a walk-off single by Alexa Foresha would bring the game to an end with Fairmont State walking off for the 7-6 win.
Despite the loss, it was another complete-game effort for Shields, who threw 6.1 innings allowing seven runs, five earned, on 10 hits while walking one and striking out five. The Cardinal offense was led by Maria Clark, who finished 1-2 with a home run and three RBI, accounting for half of the Cardinal's offense. Grace Mummery and Brooklyn Sanders each added 1-3 efforts, with each driving in a run on the day. Denise Carillo would round things out with the lone multi-hit effort, going 2-2 as the Cardinals collected eight hits across the seven innings. After holding the lead for the majority of the day, the Cardinals would look to get over the hump as they headed into game two of the day.
Game Two: Fairmont State 1, Wheeling 0
After offense led the way in game one, it was dominant pitching that would lead the way in game two as Wheeling's Maria Clark battled Fairmont State's Delaney Haller in a classic pitcher's duel. Haller would get things started with a 1-2-3 top of the first, and Fairmont State would answer with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. After a one-out single got things started, followed by a stolen base, Fairmont State's Emma Paul would line an RBI single to left that would put Fairmont State in front 1-0. After allowing the early run, Clarik settled in on the mound, retiring seven straight batters before allowing a one-out walk in the fourth. She wouldn't allow her next single until the bottom of the fifth and added a 1-2-3 bottom of the sixth inning to finish out her strong performance.
Clark would end up going the distance for the Cardinals, throwing 6.0 innings allowing one run on four hits while walking a batter and striking out a batter. On the offensive side of the ball, Amber Morgan would get things started with a leadoff single in the top of the first, but Haller would prove a tough task. The Cardinals would get their second base runner of the game in the top of the third when Denise Carillo was hit by a pitch, followed by a Morgan walk to put two on and two outs. The Cardinals would get their second hit of the day in the top of the fifth when Keke Warrix reached on a leadoff single, but she was stranded to keep it a 1-0 game. That would remain the score heading into the top of the seventh inning as the Cardinals tried to fight and claw for their run. Wheeling would put the ball in play by all three batters, but all three were recorded as outs and Fairmont State went on to win by that final score of 1-0.
The Cardinal offense picked up two hits on the day, with Amber Morgan leading the way at the top of the lineup. She finished the day 1-2 with a walk and was one of two Cardinals to reach base multiple times on the day. The other was Brooklyn Sanders, who finished 0-1 with a pair of walks on the day, while the other Cardinal hit came courtesy of Keke Warrix, who finished 1-3 with a single on the day.
The Wheeling University Softball team returns to action on Friday, April 18th, when they take on Frostburg State in doubleheader action with first pitch at 1 PM.
