This Week: Notre Dame College softball will battle Wheeling University on April 29, at 3 and 5 p.m. West Liberty University then comes to town to play on April 30, at 1 and 3 p.m.

Records: Notre Dame enters the week with a record of 20-22 (13-13 MEC). Wheeling has an overall record of 12-31 and a 5-23 MEC mark. West Liberty sits at 27-19-1, and the Hilltoppers are 17-10 in MEC play. West Liberty is currently second in the MEC North Division, while NDC is third and Wheeling is in fifth. The top four teams from both the North and South Division make the conference tournament.

Coaches Corner: Kelsey Stopp is now in her fourth season as head coach of the Falcons. She has a record of 61-87 (37-53 MEC). Caressa Derossett is in her second season as head coach of Wheeling. She has a record of 22-63 (14-46 MEC). Herb Minch is in his 24th season in the West Liberty dugout and has well over 500 wins in his time at the helm.

Rankings: None of these teams are ranked in the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA) Division II top 25 poll.

Series History: Against Wheeling, NDC is 13-20 all-time. The Falcons have gone 18-12 against West Liberty since 2014.

Noting the Falcons: Notre Dame had their best offensive game of the season, and one of the best in program history against Wheeling, earlier this season. On March 20, the Falcons defeated Wheeling, 18-11. NDC had three separate innings of five runs, or more and their 18 runs scored in a game ranks fourth in program history. Last weekend, they went 5-1 which included sweeps Alderson Broaddus and Concord. The Falcons are now 8-2 in their last 10 contests.


Notre Dame's pitcher Chloe Vance was named MEC Pitcher of the Week. In 16 2/3 innings of action, she allowed four hits and struck out seven batters. In a relief appearance in game one against Alderson Broaddus, she pitched the final 5 1/3 innings and got the win, after allowing two runs and striking out three. And in her first start since March 21, Vance pitched a complete game in an 10-1 win against Concord, allowing just three hits.

The Falcons' offense had many bright spots last week. At the plate, Katelyn DeWeese went 12-for-18 (.667), Lexi Rehm went 10-for-17 (.588) and Emma Gumont put together a week of 10-for-22 (.454) with four extra-base hits and 11 RBI.

This season, Daniele Rivera leads the team with a .427 batting average, 53 hits, 26 walks and a .527 on base percentage. Alexi Maciejowski now has ten home runs on the season, 88 total bases and 42 RBI. Madison Olszewski has now lowered her ERA to 2.82, and has seven wins and six complete games in 87 innings pitched.

Noting the Cardinals: Wheeling has gone 3-7 in their last 10 games. However, they picked up a big sweep over Fairmont State, at home last weekend. The Cardinals scored just seven runs in the doubleheader, but the WU pitching staff held FSU to three. On Wednesday, the Cardinals were swept by West Liberty after allowing 23 runs in a doubleheader. The offense played well, scoring 10 runs on 15 hits. Brooke Slomkowski entered game one as a pinch-runner and ended up homering in that game and recording three hits in game two.

Autumn Oehlstrom leads the team with a .370 batting average, with five home runs, 27 RBI and 67 total bases. In the circle, Madison Macy has a 4.07 ERA in 17 appearances and 59 2/3 innings, with a 4-5 record.

Noting the Hilltoppers: West Liberty is currently on a three-game win streak after sweeping Wheeling. It was the Hilltoppers first doubleheader sweep since April 10. On Wednesday, WLU scored 23 runs against WU. In game one, West Liberty hit four doubles and a home run as they totaled 14 runs on 17 hits. The Hilltoppers led 11-0 after three innings. In game two, West Liberty had a double and three homers. The game was tied at four after five innings, and then WLU scored five runs between the sixth and seventh inning. Riley Bennington had a home run in both games, while also pitching two innings of scoreless relief in game two.

Annie Paterson has a .409 batting average and leads the Hilltoppers. She also has seven home runs, 36 RBI, 16 doubles and 89 total bases. Riley Bennington is second on the team with a .383 average and leads the team with 18 stolen bases. As a team, WLU has 100 stolen bases on the year. The Hilltoppers' team ERA is 2.44 and Makenzie Amend has 13 wins on the season, a 2.11 ERA and 161 strikeouts.