WHEELING, W.Va. — After losing to Morgantown 20-0 just over a week ago, the University softball team was able to battle closely with the Mohigans during Saturday’s OVAC championship, but Mahalie Moser hit a walk-off single in the bottom of the 7th as MHS earned the win 4-3.
Moser tallied three hits to lead all batters, while Maris Anthony had two RBIs, all in the third inning wiht a home run. The Hawks jumped out to a 1-0 lead, but the Mohigans answered in the 3rd to take a 3-1 lead.
UHS tied it in the 6th on an RBI groundout by Lindsey Vorndran, but MHS won it in dramatic fashion with Moser’s walk-off.
Despite allowing three unearned runs, Mikala Rogers pitched all seven innings for the Mohigans and gave up just two hits and struck out 14. For the Hawks, Autumn Stemple went the distance, giving up one earned run and striking out 10.
MHS (7-2) will play at Lincoln at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, while UHS (6-5) will play at John Marshall at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
Baseball
Morgantown 1, Warren (Ohio) 0
Morgantown’s Quincy Thornton, in a pressured-packed situation in the OVAC semifinal against Warren (Ohio), threw a no-hitter to lead the Mohigans to a tight win.
With no room for error with just a 1-run lead, Thornton never lost his composure, throwing seven no-hit innings on just 89 pitches. He struck out eight batters and was a walk and hit-by-pitch away from a perfect game.
The game was scoreless until the 5th inning when Caleb Cottle drove in the only run of the game. Zach Brennan, Cottle and Caleb Nutter all had one hit to lead MHS.
The Mohigans (10-1) will travel to Buckhannon-Upshur on Wednesday. They will also play Wheeling Park for the OVAC championship on May 8.
Wheeling Park 7, University 5
On the other side of the OVAC bracket, the Hawks’ late rally fell short as the Patriots advance to face Morgantown for the conference title.
Wheeling Park jumped out to a 4-0 lead after the 3rd inning and eventually led 5-1 after the 5th, but UHS rallied to score four runs in the 6th to tie the game at 5-5.
It was a balanced offensive effort for the Hawks with single RBIs from Noah Braham, Aaron Forbes, Cam Musgrave, Drew Herter and Wenkai Campbell. Casey Smith went 2 for 4 to lead the team in hits, while Campbell had the lone extra-base hit with a double.
Evan Smith got the starting nod on the mound and gave up four earned runs in four innings. Avante Neal struck out four in relief but gave up two runs in the 6th inning to give Wheeling Park a 7-5 lead it wouldn’t relinquish.
UHS (6-3) will play at Hampshire at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
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