Kyla Pothier
Remington Koi and her teammates celebrate their walk-off win versus Wheeling on Friday in West Virginia.
With a late comeback in one game and extra innings in another, Point Park softball swept its doubleheader against Wheeling on Saturday, defeating the Cardinals 3-1 and 3-2.
After being scoreless through three innings in game one, Wheeling’s Brooklyn Sanders grounded the ball towards the pitching mound, hitting the outside of Point Park pitcher Jaylyn Mullenax’s glove. Mullenax tossed the ball to first base for the out, but it cost the Pioneers. KeKe Warrix, who was on third base for Wheeling, took advantage of the opening and made it 1-0 for the Cardinals.
Still down by one at the bottom of the seventh, Pioneer Mia Arndt had a base hit to left field, resulting in the loaded bases and a prime scoring opportunity for Point Park.
Melanie Taylor batted in the run for Gia LaBrie to tie things up, but Wheeling was able to get second out of the inning.
With Taylor on second base and Arndt on third, Remington Koi hit a double to the fence in left field, giving Arndt and Taylor the chance to score and secure the win for Point Park.
Following the game, coach Michelle Coultas said that she had high hopes for the team throughout the comeback.
“I told them to not give up and I believed in them,” Coultas said. “They were focused and pumped up. They wanted to win.”
In game two, the Pioneers struck on offense much earlier, with Emma Henry hitting a single to bat in the run for Taylor. This made it 1-0 Pioneers in the bottom of the first.
Wheeling came out in the top of the second to tie the game. Point Park then reclaimed the lead at the bottom of the third inning, with Henry scoring the run following a double out to center field by LaBrie.
With two outs in the top of the sixth, the Cardinals made it a tie game once again on a triple out to right field by Chyla Miller. This brought Wheeling’s Grace Mummery to home plate, which eventually extended the game to an extra inning.
At the bottom of the eighth, Arndt, the Pioneer’s most dangerous hitter, was at the plate with two outs and players on second and third base. Arndt drove the ball out to left field for the second straight walk-off, sending Bella Maglicco home for the 3-2 win.
In the midst of Wheeling tying the game up, coach Coultas continued to preach the same message to her players.
“It was basically the same concept of not giving up, fight till the end,” Coultas said. “Our pitchers deserved the wins, the team wanted to hit, score and win for them. It was great to see!”
Arndt, who had the winning run in game one and batted in the winning run in game two, shared a similar sentiment with her head coach in regards to Point Park pitchers.
“During both of those situations I knew in my mind that as a team we needed to do it for our pitchers,” Arndt said. “Our pitchers Jaylyn and Savannah threw phenomenal games, and they earned to win it. In my mind I knew keeping it simple and just staying calm will allow me to help the team win.”
Point Park improves to a 5-9 record overall and a 2-2 record in the Mountain East Conference.
The Pioneers opened conference play on Friday in a doubleheader against West Liberty. Point Park lost both games 2-1 and 5-2.
Point Park will return to MEC action on Saturday in Fairmont, W. Va. for a doubleheader against Fairmont State.
The games are set to begin at noon and 2 p.m.
For additional updates and news, visit pointparksports.com or @pointparksports on Instagram.