BUCKHANNON, W.Va. – The West Virginia Wesleyan (28-13-1, 18-6) softball team split a doubleheader versus Mountain East Conference division foe West Virginia State (18-22, 15-13) on Sunday afternoon at Culpepper Field.
 
Inside Game One
Hannah Hudson punched out two batters in the first inning and got the Lady ‘Cats back in the dugout. Grace Hightower led off with a walk and then swiped second base. Molly Osborne advanced Hightower to third on a groundout. Alli Robinson lifted a sacrifice fly to center field and gave the Lady Bobcats the lead.
 
West Virginia State’s first two hitters in the second inning reached base. Hudson retired the ensuing three hitters and escaped without any damage. WVSU loaded the bases with two outs in the third. Hudson worked out of the jam with a clutch strikeout to keep the game at 1-0. Hightower roped a triple to left center field in the third. The Lady Bobcats could not score her and at the end of three, they held a 1-0 lead.
 
Wesleyan generated a run with a two-out rally in the fifth inning. Osborne was plunked by a pitch with two outs. Robinson smoked a double in the gap that scored Osborne from first base to increase the WVWC lead to two. WVSU went down in order in the sixth inning. The Lady Bobcat offense added two insurance runs in the sixth inning after Kiley Turner knocked a single to center that scored Megan McMackin. Alyssa Souders roped an RBI hit to score Maya Reyes and put the Lady ‘Cats up four. Hudson shut the WVSU offense down in the seventh inning and gave the Lady Bobcats their 28^th win of the season.
 
Hudson fired 111 pitches and collected 11 strikeouts. Six different Lady Bobcats recorded hits. Hightower was aboard twice with a triple and a walk.
 
Inside Game Two
The Yellow Jacket offense got to work early, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. Osborne singled in the first for the Lady Bobcats but was stranded at first base. Souders cranked a double in the second inning for WVWC. At the end of four innings, WVSU lead by two.
 
Wesleyan pushed a run across in the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs. After two WVSU errors, Taylor Swartz singled to load the bases. Morgan Norris was hit by a pitch the next at bat to score Hightower. The Lady Bobcats cut the deficit in half at the end of five.
 
WVSU added a run in the sixth inning and pulled ahead by two. Jenna Gomez and Lauren Niglio racked up hits in the bottom of the sixth inning but did not score. Osborne singled to bring the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning. The Lady ‘Cats were not able to rally and dropped game two, 3-1.
 
Osborne poked two singles. Souders and Niglio doubled, and Swartz and Gomez singled once. Kendall Stoffel threw seven innings and struck out nine.
 
Up Next
The Lady Bobcats will play for the third day in a row on Monday (April 25) for a two-game set at Davis & Elkins beginning at 1 p.m.