BRIDGEPORT, West Virginia - After some tough weather plagued the last few Salem home softball games, north central West Virginia provided a beautiful afternoon for the Tigers to host the Pitt-Johnstown Mountain Cats today. Salem had some incredibly close games on their hands, and ended up splitting with their old WVIAC foes. Each contest played out as follows:

Salem 4, Pitt-Johnstown 3

In Game 1, things looked rough for the Tigers when the Mountain Cats homered to open the contest. The Tigers responded with a pair of RBI singles from Jazmyn Moetului and Kendall Lemley and a sacrifice fly from Brooke Wise to take control of the contest back at 3-1. Salem pushed that advantage in the 4th when Karmen Hogan added a RBI double to make it 4-1. However, the Mountain Cats rallied with a 2 run home run in the top of the 6th, but Salem was able to shut the door on the Mountain Cats with a scoreless 7th inning. In the pitcher's circle, Kendal Lemley earned her 5th win of the season, and Franchesca Alvaro picked up her first save as the pair combined to strike out 4 Pitt-Johnstown batters.

Pitt-Johnstown 3, Salem 2

For Game 2, Salem was again dealt a bad hand when Pitt-Johnstown added 3 runs in the top of the 2nd. The Tigers rallied back late with an RBI double from Kaydee Anderson, and Jazmyn Moetului drove in a second run on a groundout. However, that still put the Tigers a run short going into the final inning. Salem was unable to muster up a 7th inning rally, and narrowly fell to the Mountain Cats 3-2. In the pitcher's circle, Franchesca Alvaro pitched well despite the loss as she struck out 4 Mountain Cats in the contest. 

Salem will hit a long road swing for their next few contests. The first of those is set for Saturday, March 22nd at 12 PM when Salem heads to Frostburg State for a doubleheader with the Bobcats.