BUCKHANNON, West Virginia - After a pair of wins to open the week, the Salem Tigers softball program was back in action again quickly as they made the trip down to Upshur County to face off with local rival West Virginia Wesleyan. Salem had a pair of defensive struggles on their hands against the Bobcats, and ended up splitting the doubleheader. Each contest played out as follows:

West Virginia Wesleyan 1, Salem 0

In Game 1, it quickly became apparent that we had a pitcher's duel brewing in Buckhannon, The game went the full 7 innings with neither team able to get onto the scoreboard. The deadlock was finally broken in the 9th inning when the Bobcats ended the contest with a lone RBI single that would be the only run of the entire game. In the pitcher's circle, Kendall Lemley still had an impressive outing despite the loss as she pitched in all 9 innings, and struck out 5 Bobcats in the contest.

Salem 2, West Virginia Wesleyan 1

For Game 2, Salem got off to a quicker start this time as they opened with a 1-0 lead when Jazmyn Moetului knocked an RBI single that brought home Brooke Wise. Salem added to their advantage with another RBI single in the 4th; this time off the bat of Kaydee Anderson. The Bobcats responded with a run of their own in the bottom of that same inning, but the Tigers put together a strong defensive showing the rest of the way to shut the door and seal the 2-1 win. Franchesca Alvaro continued her string of strong pitching performances to earn the win for her 7 innings of work that included 7 strikeouts and 0 earned runs. 

However, there is still a lot of action for the Tigers on the softball diamond still this week. Salem is set to host the Fairmont State Falcons on April 4th at 11 AM at The Bridge Sports Complex for their next pair of contests.