SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The West Liberty University softball team opened the Mountain East Conference portion of its schedule here Wednesday by dropping both ends of a doubleheader at Notre Dame's Normandy Field.
The host Falcons (7-8, 2-0) blanked the Hilltoppers (6-16, 0-2) by a 9-0 count in the first game before pulling away to a 9-1 win in the finale.
In the opener, Notre Dame's Ashley Pokraka and WLU's Savanna Sieger locked horns in a pitchers' duel for the first three frames but the Falcons broke things open with four runs in the bottom of the third and put the game away with four more in the fourth. The Hilltoppers' Kelsi Johnson singled up the middle with two out in the top of the fourth to spoil Pokraka's no-hit bid. West Liberty trailed just 2-1 through the first four innings of the second contest but the hosts pushed across three runs in the bottom of the fifth and added four more in the sixth to invoke the 8-run "mercy rule."
Nicole Chris ripped an RBI double in the top of the second to give the visitors an early 1-0 lead. The Hilltoppers return home to host Charleston on Saturday in a 2 p.m. doubleheader.
SOFTBALL
Notre Dame (OH) 9, West Liberty 0
West Liberty 000 00 - 0 1 0
Notre Dame 104 4x - 0 10 0
WLU: Sieger lp (2SO, 1W), Barr (4) (1SO, 0W) and Mogielski. Johnson S
NDC: Pokraka wp (3SO, 1W) and Vanadia. Stevens HR, S, 4rbi; Vanadia D, S, 3rbi
Notre Dame (OH) 9, West Liberty 1
West Liberty 010 000 - 1 3 2
Notre Dame 011 034 - 9 10 0
WLU: Zeiger lp (1SO, 4W), Sieger (5) (0SO, 1W) and Mogielski. Chris D, rbi
NDC: Wallace wp (4SO, 1W) and Vanadia. Calhoun HR, S, 3rbi; Stephens 2S, 2rbi; Sidorski HR, rbi; Vanadia S, rbi
