SALEM, Va. – Freshman pitcher Anna Paterson hurled a one-hit shutout here Friday to lead the No. 1-seeded West Liberty University softball team to a 3-0 victory against No. 4-seed UVa-Wise in a Mountain East Conference Tournament opener at the James I. Moyer Complex.
    Heavy rains washed out the late afternoon and evening games, forcing them to be rescheduled for Saturday morning. Coach Herb Minch's Hilltoppers (33-17) will take on No. 3 seed Fairmont State (26-21) in a 10 a.m. winner's bracket game. The Falcons surprised No. 2 seed Concord, 4-1, in their first-round matchup.
    A hard-throwing lefthander from Salem, Ohio, Paterson didn't allow a UVa-Wise runner past first base in a masterful performance.
    Ava Hockey beat out an infield dribbler with one out in the top of the third for the Cavaliers' only hit but Paterson retired the next two hitters on infield popups and cruised the rest of the way. The precocious southpaw finished with 5 strikeouts and 2 walks in improving to 12-5 on the season.
    West Liberty scored two unearned runs without benefit of a hit in the bottom of the second to give Patterson all the support she needed.
    Sydney Bennington drew a leadoff walk and came all the way around to score on a sacrifice bunt by Katie Beeman when the throw to first sailed down the right field line.
    Beeman ended up on third and scored the second run of the inning on an infield grounder by Patterson. The Hilltoppers closed out the scoring with a single run in the fourth inning as Kaitlyn Stress followed back-to-back 2-out singles by Haley Collett and Patterson with an RBI single.
    Beeman and Kate Meloun led West Liberty's 8-hit attack with a pair of singles.
    The winner of the West Liberty-Fairmont State game advances to the 2 p.m. winner's bracket final against the winner of the other 10 a.m. game between Charleston and West Virginia State.