WEST LIBERTY, W.Va. - The West Liberty University softball team won a pair of thrilling games, 8-6 and 5-4, over Salem on Wednesday at the Hilltopper Softball Complex.

Game 1: West Liberty (8) - Salem (6)
Riley Conkle  pinch hit in the bottom of the third and took over the game smacking three hits including a walkoff home run in the bottom of the seventh. Conkle tallied six of the team's seven RBI.

Anna Welsh scored on a first and third play in the first inning to get the Black and Gold on the board. Salem was right there to answer in the top of the second with a five spot.

WLU plated three in the third to make it a one run game. Mallory Rosnick successfully squeezed home Caroline Woody, then Conkle got her RBI spree going with a two-run single in her first at bat of the game.

Conkle was back at it in the fifth inning driving in two more on a double down the left field line to give the Hilltoppers a late, one-run lead. 

The Tigers scored a two-out run in the sixth to tie the game, then stranded a pair of Hilltoppers in the bottom half to send the game to the final frame knotted at 6.

Brooke Perri finished her fifth inning in relief with a one, two, three top of the seventh. Savannah Holbrook led the West Liberty half of the seventh with a single to right field, then stole second to get into scoring position. Conkle stepped in with one out and blasted the first pitch she saw over the wall to end the game.

Perri earned the win out of the pen tossing 5.0 innings with three strikeouts and just one run allowed on three hits.

Welsh finished with two hits in three at bats, while Kylie Imes, Grace Swigart, Madelyn Weidner, and Conkle all smacked doubles at the plate for WLU. The Hilltoppers had 12 hits from eight different players, their most in a game since opening weekend.

Game Two: Salem (4) - West Liberty (5)
Leah Alford (WLU) and Andrea Gllegos (Salem) were in a pitchers dual early, keeping both sides off the scoreboard through three innings.

Both teams broke the ice in the fourth. The Tigers plated one, as the Hilltoppers were able to escape stranding a pair of runners on base. Then, Savannah Holbrook hit a no-doubt, three-run homer to left field to put West Liberty on the board.

The Hilltoppers added one more in the fifth and sixth innings to take a 5-1 advantage with just three outs left to get.

Salem never gave in scoring three runs in the top of the seventh and had the tying run on third with one out. Brooke Perri was called upon for the final two outs and did just that striking out both batters she faced to earn her second save of the season.

Alford earned the win and finished with six strikeouts over 5.1 innings pitched and just one run allowed.

Holbrook went 2-for-3 including the three-run bomb in the third inning to lead the offense. Anna Welsh went 1-for-1 to extend her hit streak to five games, the longest by any Hilltopper so far this season.

Up Next
West Liberty will be off for the next week and a half before hosting Clarion on next Friday (March 17). First pitches are scheduled for 2 & 4 pm at the Hilltopper Softball Complex.

Follow West Liberty Softball online all season at HilltopperSports.com and on Twitter (@WLU_Softball & @WLathletics), Instagram (@wlu_softball & @wlu_athletics), and Facebook.