BRIDGEPORT, West Virginia - With rain and storms featured prominently in the weekend forecast at The Bridge Sports Complex, the Salem softball team was fortunate to be able to get a pair of contests completed against the Wheeling Cardinals on Sunday afternoon. It was a lucky day for the Tigers on the field as well as they were able to snag victories in both contests. Each game played out as follows:

Salem 11, Wheeling 3

In Game 1, Salem faced some adversity as they fell behind 2-0 in the top of the second. However, the Tigers answered it with a 7 run inning in the bottom of the second to take control of the game. Salem added 2 more runs in the 4th and 5th innings to cap off the dominant 11-3 victory via run rule. It was a banner day for Salem offensively with 13 total hits including 2 triples from Jazmyn Moetului, a triple from Kaydee Anderson, a triple and a double from Kyleigh Cook, and a double from Karmen Hogan. Kylie Zinn drove in 3 RBIs in the contest on 3 for 3 at the plate. In the pitcher's circle, Kendall Lemley struck out 5 and took home the win for her 5 innings of work.

Salem 9, Wheeling 5

In the second contest, Salem again fell behind early when Wheeling added a home run in the first. Salem returned fire with a RBI double from Karmen Hogan in the second and a Kendall Lemley homer of her own in the third to make it 2-1. Salem built on that advantage in the 4th with a Cardinal error brought home Victoria Castro and a Abigail Harki single brought in Kyleigh Cook. Wheeling homered again in the 5th, but Salem was able to negate that again with another rally. Another costly Cardinal error brought home Kaydee Anderson, and Brooke Wise added an RBI single to bring it to 6-2. The Cardinals kept the pressure on and brought it to within a single run in the 6th, but Salem built one last surge in the 6th to seal the victory thanks to a wild pitch that scored Alexis Valverde, a Kendall Lemley RBI single, and a Kylie Zinn sacrifice fly. Therefore, the Tigers ended up with a hardfought 9-5 win over Wheeling. Franchesca Alvaro picked up the win for her 5 and ⅓ innings of work, and Destiny Coble earned the save for her strong work protecting the Salem advantage in the final 2 frames. 

The Tigers will be energized with these wins as they continue their homestand on Wednesday, March 19th at Noon when they host the Mountain Cats of Pitt-Johnstown at The Bridge Sports Complex in Bridgeport, West Virginia.