Wheeling, W. Va- Sunday marked day three of "The Highlands Classic" as the Wheeling University Softball team (1-3), (0-0) took on the University of Findlay Oilers and the Lake Erie College Storm. Despite not coming out on top in game one, the Cardinals let the bats fly in game two to pick up their first win of the season.
Game One: Findlay- 9 Wheeling- 2
The Oilers were able to take advantage of batting first by bringing in two unearned runs off a two RBI double. KeKe Warrix led off the batting order for the Cardinals with a single. Despite her stealing second base, Wheeling was unable to generate any more offense, so Findlay led 2-0 at the end of the first.
In the top of the second inning, Findlay hit back-to-back singles, but the Cardinal defense forced two fly-outs to center field and a fielder's choice call, so they escaped unscathed by the Oiler offense. In Wheeling's half of the second, Ava Kresak was patient enough to draw a walk with two outs against her, but other than that, the Cards went down in order.
Findlay started the top of the third with three consecutive hits, two singles and a triple, that brought in a runner to go up 3-0. The first out was recorded after the first single when the runner tried to go for two, but a great throw by Eden Troxel and the tag from Warrix was enough to call her out. A sacrifice ground ball hit to second base brought in the fourth runner for the Oilers. Then, Findlay wrapped up their half of the third with a single that allowed their runner on second to cross the plate to go up 5-0. After two strikeouts, Mackenzie Burns drove a single out to center field to get on base. After her hit, Grace Mummery followed her up with another single that advanced both runners. However, the Oiler defense prevented the Cardinals from capitalizing.
Findlay started the top of the fourth with another hit on the first plate appearance of the inning. Once the runner stole second to get into scoring position, an RBI double allowed the Oilers to take a 6-0 lead. Emili Blackie sparked the Cardinal offense in the bottom of the fourth with a one-out double to get into scoring position. Taylor Walsh took her place on second as the pinch runner and then she moved to third base after Kresak lined a single to left field. Priscilla Villarreal made it safely to first because of an error on the Oiler first basemen, and because of it, Walsh crossed home plate for Wheeling's first run of the game to make the score 6-1.
The Cardinal defense did a good job of limiting the Oilers' production in the fifth inning, allowing just one hit. However, Findlay made the routine plays that sat Wheeling down in order to close the fifth inning. Findlay still led 6-1.
Kaylin Shields started the sixth off with a dropped-third strike, and out number one officially came with a good throw from Troxel to Blackie. Findlay would be able to get on first with a single and then move to second with a steal. Another hit by the Oilers put runners at the corners. A groundout to Shields brought home Findlay's last run of the afternoon as they went up 7-1. The bottom of the sixth for Wheeling and the top of the seventh for Findlay saw each team send out three batters and see all of them get out.
The bottom of the seventh was Wheeling's final chance to get on the board, and they took advantage of it. Mikaela Holp singled out to the second basemen with one out against her to get on base. However, a fielder's choice got her out at second base, but now KeKe Warrix was on the basepaths at first. The speed from Warrix allowed her to move from first to home following a deep double by Burns, for a 7-2 final score.
Mackenzie Burns went 2-4 with one double and an RBI to lead the Cardinal offense. KeKe Warrix, Emili Blackie, Grace Mummery, Mikaela Holp, and Ave Kresak each recorded one hit. Priscilla Villareal finished with one RBI. Kaylin Shields pitched all seven innings for Wheeling, striking out three batters.
Game Two: Wheeling- 9 Lake Erie College- 3
A pop-up to Maria Clark recorded the first out of the game, and then Emili Blackie took care of the other two when she caught a line drive for the second out and tagged the runner before she could get back on first for out number three. The Cardinals could not get their offense going in their half of the first, but Mackenzie Burns stole second after reaching first on an error by the third baseman.
The Cardinal defense, specifically KeKe Warrix took care of the first two outs and a lineout to right field gave Wheeling a chance to get on the board, and they did exactly that. Denise Carrillo and Ava Kresak earned walks to get on base. A wild pitch advanced both runners, meaning two runners were in scoring position. Another walk allowed Priscilla Villarreal to load up the bases. Mikaela Holp hit her ball into the infield to load the bases again, but Carrillo was tagged out trying to slide into home. Lake Erie walked their fourth batter of the inning when Warrix went to first, which allowed Kresak to score. A single from Burns to center field allowed Holp and Villarreal to score and gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead at the end of the second inning.
Lake Erie singled to open the third, but Wheeling's defense made the right plays to get their bats swinging again. Similarly to the last inning, The Storm walked two batters to open the bottom of the third, which put Clark and Blackie on the paths. Kresak brought Clark home when she hit a single to center field, Mummery allowed Blackie to score with a single, and Villarreal drove Kresak home, and all of a sudden, the Cardinals led 6-0. Warrix's hit extended the lead when she brought Mummery home for a 7-0 Wheeling advantage.
The Cardinal's infield defense strangled The Storm's hit production in the top of the fourth. However, even though Burns opened the bottom of the fourth with a single, the bats stalled out.
Lake Erie was able to gain a little bit of momentum in the fifth, and it started with a runner that was called safe because of an error in the infield. After that runner advanced to second because of a wild pitch, a single by The Storm put runners at the corners with only one out against them. Lake Erie hit a sacrifice fly to the outfield to bring home their first run of the game. Clark struck out the batter to close out the top of the fifth with her team still up by six, 7-1. The Cardinals made a variety of substitutions in their half of the fifth but were unable to replicate the success of previous innings.
Lake Erie opened the sixth with a double to left field and following a fielder's choice call and a single, The Storm made it 7-2. As the Cardinals took to the box, Holp made contact for a single but was able to beat the throw as she slid into second safely. Warrix smashed a triple out into the back corner of left field to bring Holp home. Bruns grounded out to the shortstop, but it allowed Warrix to make it across the plate to make it 9-2.Lake Erie was able to score one more run for a final score of 9-3.
KeKe Warrix and Mackenzie Burns led the Cardinal offense with two hits and two RBIs each. Grace Mummery, Ava Kresak, and Priscilla Villarreal ended the night with one hit. Mikaela Holp and Kresak crossed the plate twice, while Warrix, Mummery, Villarreal, Clark, and Blackie reaching home once. Maria Clark pitched all seven innings for the Cards, striking out one batter and picking up her first win of the season.
The Wheeling University Softball team will return to the field on Tuesday, March 3rd, to kick off their 2026 Florida Spring Break trip with a double header against Eckerd College.
