Softball/Men’s Basketball Have Plays Nominated for MEC Play of the Year – Wheeling University Athletics

Wheeling, W. Va. – After releasing their academic honors on Friday, the Mountain East Conference began their year-end Athletic Award season on Monday. They released their annual MEC Play of the Year finalists, and two Wheeling University Athletic plays would make the list. Wheeling Men’s Basketball and Wheeling Softball were featured on the list, with fan votes determining the winner. 

Fans can vote across social media and at mountaineast.org, with the winner being announced on Wednesday, July 3rd. All 10 nominated plays will be released on the conference’s YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and X pages with fans being able to vote for which one is their favorite through likes, comments, and shares. Votes and social media metrics will account for a percentage of the final vote tally conducted by MEC officials and administrators. You can vote once per day on the conference’s website and by sharing, liking, and commenting across social media channels. 

The first Cardinal play up for consideration comes from Wheeling Softball’s walk-off 5-4 win over West Liberty. After the Hilltoppers took a one-run lead in the top of the eighth, the Cardinals came to bat in the bottom half, needing at least one run to at least tie the game. After a fly out to start the inning. Freshman Madison Kay stepped in and worked a 3-2 count. She finished off the at-bat by lifting a game-tying solo home run over the right field wall to tie the game at 4-4. That hit swung the momentum the Cardinals way as a double and a single followed as the Cardinals walked it off with a 5-4 win over the Hilltoppers. It was Kay’s fifth home run of the season and earned the Cardinals a split with the Hilltoppers on the day. 

The second Cardinal play in the running comes on a last second play from Wheeling Men’s Basketball’s overtime affair with Seton Hill. Wheeling was trailing 85-83 with 27 seconds left on the clock with the game still hanging in the balance. Teh two teams traded possessions, with each team missing a shot. The Cardinals got the ball back with seven seconds to go and drove down the court. The ball would be knocked out of bounds off a Griffin player with 0.3 seconds showing on the clock, setting the Cardinals up for one final game-tying chance. Trey Stoffer would in-bound the ball and Caleb Murray would catch it mid-air heading towards the hoop. He slammed it down for the alley-oop and the Cardinals tied the game at 85-85, sending it to overtime. The shot kept the Cardinals alive, but in the end they fell 97-96 in overtime. 

Vote now to help the Cardinals bring home the MEC Play of the Year! Voting goes until Monday, July 1st at noon, with the winner being announced July 3rd.