MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — When University and Morgantown meet in softball, more often than not, it’s reasonable to expect a tight contest with runs at a premium and a small margin for error on both sides.
In the second regular season meeting between the two teams this season Wednesday at Mylan Park’s ISS Field, the Mohigans jumped out to a three-run lead in the second inning, and that was enough offense to support Madison Wisman, who threw a complete game five-hitter with seven strikeouts to lead the way in a 3-1 victory.
“She has the work ethic and mindset,” MHS coach Lorri Lipscomb said of Wisman. “She’s so positive and she’s always bringing the team up and she has the mindset that it takes to be confident in the circle. It also helps that she trusts her defense behind her.”
No. 2 UHS (12-4) had defeated third-ranked Morgantown 5-1 in a March matchup, but the Mohigans surpassed their run total from that contest early into the rematch.
Caroline Mallow’s one-out single in the second marked the first hit for MHS (15-4), which loaded the bases moments after when Grace Robinson and Madi Stone walked consecutively on four pitches.
Beth Robinson’s single to right marked the fourth straight Morgantown batter to reach and brought in Mallow with the first run.
Although Hawks’ starting pitcher Sophia Lehosit struck out Carper Messerly for the second out, Kayleigh White followed with a pivotal two-run single to right-center that upped her team’s lead to 3-0.
“We know what to expect,” Lipscomb said. “We try to take the approach that it’s like any other game. These seniors have played against and with each other since they were little kids. you try to take that emotional part out of it and just do our jobs. If we do what we’re supposed to do — let the game come to us, make the plays and get the hits when we need to, the game will take care of itself.”
MHS stranded two in scoring position to end that inning, but the damage was done and Wisman had a multi-run lead to work with.
After retiring University in order in the third, Wisman encountered some trouble in the fourth when the Hawks put two on with two outs after Lehosit’s infield single.
But Wisman never wavered and instead rose to the occasion, striking out Lexi Elza to keep UHS off the scoreboard through four.
“A couple plays here and there could’ve easily changed that game,” UHS coach Mindy Parks said.
The Hawks changed that in the fifth after leadoff batter Carley Voithofer reached on an error in the form of a dropped fly ball.
Courtesy runner Kylin Oliveto eventually got to third with two outs and scored on a passed ball to bring University within two.
Maddie Campbell, who came on for Lehosit in the pitching circle to start the third, pitched her third straight scoreless inning in the fifth by getting Mallow to bounce out to second base with two on.
That kept University well within striking distance, and the Hawks got their leadoff batter on in the sixth to send the tying run to the plate on three straight occasions, but Wisman struck out Elza to end the inning with a runner at third.
Voithofer’s single to start the seventh again sent the tying run to the plate for University, but Wisman retired each of the next three hitters on a pair of ground balls and a fly ball to left that marked the final out.
Wisman did not issue a walk while displaying high-level control in the victory.
White accounted for two of her team’s seven hits.
“We’ve had several games where I’ve said that we’ve had our backs against the wall and we’ve had to fight back,” Lipscomb said. “Today, we wanted to put their backs against the wall and we were able to do that.”
Lehosit took the loss after allowing three runs over two innings. She walked two, struck out two and was tagged for three hits.
Campbell allowed four hits over four scoreless innings, striking out one and issuing a pair of base-on-balls.
“Maddie did a real nice job shutting them down, even though she was struggling with some tingling from when she got hit at the plate,” Parks said. “Sophia was a little bit not herself in that second inning. They got a couple walks and then a couple hits to drop in and that changed that inning.”