SALEM, Va. – Riley Conkle slugged three home runs and Makenzie Amend was virtually untouchable in the circle here Saturday as the West Liberty softball team kept its "3-Peat" hopes alive with a pair of huge wins in the rain-marred Mountain East Conference Tournament at a soggy Moyer Complex.
    Heavy rains delayed the start of Saturday's action for more than seven hours but it was worth the wait for Coach Herb Minch's Hilltoppers (35-20-1). The Black and Gold opened the evening's proceedings with a 5-0 shutout of Charleston and followed that up with a gritty 7-6 win against Frostburg State in an elimination game that didn't end until shortly before midnight.
    The Hilltoppers, seeking their third consecutive MEC Tournament title and NCAA Division II postseason bid, take on West Virginia Wesleyan (35-15) in Sunday's losers' bracket final at noon. The winner will play Fairmont State at 2 p.m. in the championship bracket with a winner-take-all game to follow at 4 p.m., if necessary. The Cinderella Falcons (21-24) shocked Wesleyan, 5-1, in Saturday night's winners' bracket final.
    West Liberty had to come from behind twice in the first three innings of Saturday's late game against Frostburg but it was Conkle's potent power bat that put the Hilltoppers ahead to stay.
    The junior second baseman had forged a 2-2 deadlock with a solo blast in the bottom of the second inning. The Bobcats went back on top with a run in the top of the third but Conkle responded in the bottom of the frame by sending a 3-2 two-out fastball screaming into the night for a 5-3 WLU lead.
    The margin had reached 7-4 by the top of the sixth but the Bobcats didn't go quietly. An RBI single, a hit-by-pitch and a throwing error helped Frostburg cut the deficit to 7-6 with the tying run on third and the heart of their order coming up.
    Amend, the winning pitcher in the first game, came on in relief to retire the next two batters and preserve WLU's precarious one-run lead. The senior ace then struck out the side in the seventh to collect a well-earned save. Taylor Bonnett got the win with three innings of solid relief.
    The three Hilltopper pitchers – Amend, Bonnett and starter Annie Paterson – combined to strike out 13 Bobcats without walking a batter.
    Conkle drove in four of West Liberty's seven runs with her two circuit blasts. Jairika Baylor singled twice and drove in a run while Paterson added an RBI single and Sidney Little tripled and scored a pair of runs.
    In the first game, Amend and Bonnett teamed up on a three-hit shutout and the Hilltoppers pounded out 11 hits to send the Golden Eagles packing.
    Amend pitched into the sixth inning, striking out 7 while walking 1 and giving up two hits. Bonnett got the final six outs to earn the save.
    Conkle hammered out a solo homer and a double while Katie Beeman doubled twice and drove in a run. Little and Kayla Mancuso each finished with two singles and an RBI.
  Charleston                             000 000 0 - 0    3  1
West Liberty                          110 003 x - 5  11  0
     UC: Bauer lp (5SO, 0W), Hoppe (3) (2SO, 0W), Haegele (6) (0SO, 1W) and Lake. Rose D
     WLU: Amend wp (7SO, 1W), Bonnett (6) (1SO, 0W) and M.Blair. Conkle HR, D, rbi; Beeman 2D, rbi; Little 2S, rbi; Mancuso 2S, rbi
  Frostburg State                     201 102 0 - 6  10  3
West Liberty                          113 200 0 - 7    7  4
     FSU: Chapple lp (7SO, 3W) and Ernst. Powell D, S, rbi; Roberts 2S, 2rbi; Sanderson 2S, rbi; Brumagin 2S; Gilford 2S;
     WLU: Paterson (6SO, 0W), Bonnett wp (4) (3SO, 0W), Amend (6) (4SO, 0W) and M.Blair, McCroskey (1), Holbrook (6). Conkle 2HR, 4rbi; Baylor 2S, rbi; Paterson S, rbi; Little T