Softball | 4/19/2016 8:19:00 PM
Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 WHEELING, W.Va. – The West Liberty University softball team split a Mountain East Conference doubleheader with Ohio County rival Wheeling Jesuit Tuesday afternoon at the I-470 fields.
Coach Jim Bacca's Hilltoppers rallied for 5-4 win in the finale but saw a late comeback effort fall short in dropping the nightcap to the Cardinals (30-18, 18-10) by a 7-3 count.
In the opener, West Liberty (11-39, 4-24) battled back from a 4-1 deficit with three runs in the top of the sixth and Julie Tenney laced a 2-out RBI double down the left field line to plate the game-winning run in the top of the seventh.
Taylor Paladino had two singles for the Hilltoppers while Nicki Mihalik highlighted the three-run sixth inning uprising with a two-run double. Savannah Sieger singled and drove in a pair of runs while holding the Cardinals to one run over the final four innings to earn the win in relief.
Jesuit seemed to be cruising in the second game when the hosts carried a 7-0 lead into the seventh inning but the Black and Gold didn't go quietly.
Kelsi Johnson foiled WJU's shutout bid with a three-run blast over the centerfield wall. The Hilltoppers put two more runners on base and got the tying run to the on-deck circle before the Cardinals were able to get the final out.
Paladino laced out three singles to lead the WLU attack while Johnson had a single to go along with her three-run circuit blast. Mihalik also had a multi-hit game with a pair of singles.
The Black and Gold will close out their season this weekend with back-to-back home doubleheaders. Notre Dame (Ohio) comes to the WLU Softball Complex on Saturday with Urbana heading to the hilltop on Sunday. Both twinbills are set for 2 p.m. starts.
SOFTBALL
West Liberty 5, Wheeling Jesuit 4
West Liberty 000 103 1 - 5 7 0
Wheeling Jesuit 102 100 0 - 4 7 2
WLU: Barr (0SO, 3W), Sieger wp (3) (6SO, 5W) and Mogielski. Paladino 2S; Mihalik D, 2rbi; Tenney D, rbi; Sieger S, 2rbi;
WJU: Chapman lp (6SO, 3W) and Scott. Cangelosi 2S; Smith D, rbi; Thompson S, rbi
Wheeling Jesuit 7, West Liberty 3
West Liberty 000 000 3 - 3 9 3
Wheeling Jesuit 003 400 x - 7 9 2
WLU: Sieger lp (0SO, 3W), Barr (4) (0SO, 3W) and Mogielski. Paladino 3S; Johnson HR, S, 3rbi; Mihalik 2S
WJU: Locke wp (3SO, 1W) and Scott. Holstein 2S; Achille S, 3rbi; Scott S, 2rbi; Stohlman D; Conrad S, rbi
