Softball | 4/23/2018 7:59:00 PM

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
    SALEM, W.Va. – Makenzie Amend flirted with a no-hitter for the third straight day while Katie Higginbotham had a big day at the plate and in the circle here Monday as the West Liberty University softball team swept a non-conference doubleheader at Salem University's Hope Field.
    Coach Herb Minch's Hilltoppers (19-21) held on for a 5-3 win in the opener and Amend held the Tigers (13-23) to just one hit to key a 9-0 romp in the nightcap.
    It was the third time in as many days that Amend, a hard-throwing freshman from Wheeling Park High School, had come within a pitch or two of a no-hit gem. She carried no-hit bids in the seventh inning at Fairmont State on Saturday and again at Shepherd on Sunday only to see them slip away.
    Amend was in control throughout the second game of Monday's twinbill, striking out five and walking two while not allowing a Tiger runner past first base in a masterful performance.
    Salem freshman Abbey Callo broke up Amend's no-hit bid with two out in the bottom of the fifth when she dropped down a bunt between third and the pitcher's circle and barely beat Amend's throw to first on a bang-bang play.
    After West Liberty scored three runs in the top of the sixth to take a 9-0 lead, Amend retired the hosts in order in the bottom of the frame to invoke the 8-run "mercy rule."
    Higginbotham drove in four runs with a double and a single while Amend helped her own cause with an RBI single in the sixth as the Black and Gold completed the sweep.
    A senior outfielder from Buffalo, W.Va. who hadn't pitched since a few brief appearances during her sophomore season, Higginbotham picked up her second collegiate win with 4.1 innings of solid relief work in the first game.
    The Hilltopper veteran helped her own cause at the plate with two singles and an RBI. Amend – who had opened the game with two shutout innings – returned to the circle when Higginbotham tired in the seventh and struck out the last two batters to earn the save.
    Kat Donzella singled twice to drive in a pair of runs and Skylar Fankhauser added an RBI single to help fuel the WLU attack.
    The West Liberty softball team heads to Greensburg, Pa. on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. doubleheader at Seton Hill.
  West Liberty                                    102 011 0 - 5    8  1
Salem                                                001 000 2 - 3  11  1
     WLU: Amend (4SO, 0W), Higginbotham wp (3) (0SO, 1W), Amend (7) (2SO, 0W) and Donzella. Donzella 2S, 2rbi; Higginbotham 2S, rbi; Fankhauser S, rbi
     SU: Bombardiere lp (1SO, 5W) and Atkinson. Atkinson T, S, rbi; Butler D, S; Moritz 2S; Garcia S, rbi; Crew S, rbi
  West Liberty                                          021 033 - 9  6  0
Salem                                                      000 000 - 0  1  4
     WLU: Amend wp (5SO, 2W) and Donzella. Higginbotham D, S, 4rbi; Amend S, rbi
     SU: Romick lp (3SO, 6W), Baldwin (5) (0SO, 0W) and Atkinson. Callo S