SOUTH EUCLID, Ohio – The West Liberty University softball team kept its Mountain East Conference North Division title hopes alive here Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of Notre Dame (Ohio) at Normandy Field.
    Coach Herb Minch's Hilltoppers (31-19-1, 21-10) stretched their current winning streak to seven games, defeating the Falcons (20-26, 13-17) by scores of 2-0 and 7-5 in the mutual regular season finale.
    Frostburg State split its season-ending doubleheader with West Virginia State on Saturday to finish with a 22-10 record in MEC play. West Liberty still has a make-up game remaining against Glenville State and can tie Frostburg for the division crown with a win against the Pioneers.
    The MEC announced late Saturday night that the HIlltoppers and Pioneers would make up that game on Monday afternoon with a 3:30 p.m. start at the WLU Softball Complex.
    In Saturday's opener, Makenzie Amend and Taylor Bonnett teamed up on West Liberty's 12th shutout and 30th win of the season, holding the Falcons to just four singles while combining for six strikeouts and only one walk.
    The Hilltoppers managed only five hits themselves but made the most of them, scoring the game's first run on a wild pitch in the top of the fourth and adding an insurance tally with an Annie Paterson solo home run in the sixth.
    Timely hitting combined with an outstanding relief effort from Riley Bennington helped West Liberty complete the sweep with a come-from-behind win in Game Two.
    The Hilltoppers plated a pair of unearned runs in the top of the first and carried a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the third only to see the Falcons score four runs on two inside-the-park home runs to take a 5-2 lead.
    Bennington came on in relief in the bottom of the fourth and slammed the door, shutting out Notre Dame on one hit over the final four innings to earn the win.
    The Falcons nursed their three-run advantage into the fifth inning before the Black and Gold hit the comeback trail.
    With one out and runners on second and third, Sidney Little singled home a run and took second on the throw to keep runners at second and third. Kayla Mancuso dropped down a squeeze bunt that was mishandled by the third baseman, allowing another run to score.
    That brought Paterson to the plate with two runners on and West Liberty trailing, 5-4. The lefty slugger changed that picture on the very first pitch, taking a fastball out over the plate and driving it deep over the centerfield fence for a three-run home run.
    Bennington retired 12 of the 15 batters she faced, striking out three and walking two while allowing just one hit - a seventh-inning double by Emily Marsh.
  West Liberty                          000 101 0 - 2  5  0
Notre Dame                           000 000 0 - 0  4  0
     WLU: Amend wp (5SO, 0W), Bonnett (6) (1SO, 1W) and M.Blair, Petrucci (5). Paterson HR, S, rbi; Baylor D
     NDC: Weilnau lp (3SO, 2W), Vance (6) (1SO, 0W) and Fording. Rivera 2S
  West Liberty                          200 050 0 - 7  6  0
Notre Dame                           104 000 0 - 5  8  2
     WLU: Paterson (2SO, 1W), Bennington wp (4) (3SO, 2W) and Holbrook. Paterson HR, S, 3rbi; Little S, rbi
     NDC: Olszewki lp (4SO, 0W), Vance (5) (2SO, 0W) and Fording. DeWeese HR, S, rbi; Marsh 2D, rbi; Maciejowski HR, 3rbi; Odum D