Cardinal Softball Midweek Report

The Wheeling Jesuit Cardinal Softball team left Friday and made their way to the Rebel Spring Games in Kissimmee, Florida.  Halfway through their spring break trip, they are sitting at 4 wins and 2 losses.  Their wins have come against C.W. Post, University of Indianapolis, Upper Iowa, and Northern State.  The two losses came at the hands of Fayetteville State and LeMoyne University.

On opening day, the Cardinals beat C.W. Post 5-1 and lost to LeMoyne 7-1.  Against C.W. Post, sophomore Ashley McSweeney had a 2-run homer and Brandy Jester threw 7 innings allowing just 5 hits and 1 run.  The Cardinals then took a hard loss from LeMoyne.  Freshman Olivia Wamsley drove in the only run for WJU, scoring Angela Petros.  McSweeney was 2 for 3 and Wamsley took the loss throwing 5 innings. 

On the second day, the Cardinals dropped game one to Fayetteville State 5-1.  Wamsley again suffered the loss giving up 5 runs on 9 hits with 9 strike outs.   The second game was a hard fought battle against the University of Indianapolis and a 6-4 victory for the Cards.  Vanessa Ilovar was 2 for 3 with a triple and a double against Indy.  Ashley McSweeney was 3 for 4 and Renee Bailey added 2 RBI’s.  Brandy Jester was 3 for 4 with 2 RBI’s and pitched 7 innings, giving up 9 hits, 4 runs, and striking out 7 for the win.  The Cardinals held off a 3-run Indy threat in the bottom of the 7th.

The last day of competition before mid-week break, the Cardinals won two, beating Upper Iowa and Northern State.  Against Upper Iowa, Brandy Jester earned another win, throwing 7 shutout innings with 5 strike outs and while going 2 for 3 at the plate.  Courtney Kurowski provided an RBI double and Ashley Morris hit a 2-run home run.  In gsme two, WJU beat Northern State in an 8-inning thriller.  Olivia Wamsley recorded her first career college win, pitching all 8 innings and giving up 2 runs on 6 hits while striking out 3.  Vanessa Ilovar was 2 for 4 and freshman Sam Kozbial had a walk-off RBI single, driving in senior Renee Bailey in the bottom of the 8th.  Kozbial was 2-4 at the plate.

The Cardinals are hitting .256 and only have 16 strikeouts in 164 at-bats.  Brandy Jester is leading the Cards on the mound with a 3-0 record.  The Cardinals have only committed 6 errors in the field.

The Cardinals are back in action for the second half of their Spring Break trip on Thursday against Northern Kentucky and Quincy.  Friday they face Saginaw Valley State and they square off again with Northern State.  They wrap up their trip Saturday against Ashland University and Concordia.