UNION TWP.| Neither Wheeler nor Valparaiso could get the offense going Wednesday night.
Both teams' coaches said the cool, windy weather had no factor on their teams offense, but both teams had a combined 11 hits and one run.
The lone run came in favor of the Bearcats, who defeated the Vikings 1-0 and have not given up a run yet this season.
"When it's cold like this, no one wants to stand in there and bat," Wheeler coach Marc Bruner said. "We had a lot of base runners, we had a lot of kids on base, but I don't know what it was we just didn't get those timely hits."
The Bearcats (2-0) left nine runners on base, and the only spark of offense came in the second inning. Sarah Becker lined a triple to right center, and Kristen Settele singled to drive Becker in for the score.
"Kristen has been quite a nice surprise for us. She had a big hit here, and could have had a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning. We didn't execute it well on the bases as we could have," Bruner said.
The Vikings (2-3) were unable to get past second base at any point during the game. Their best chance in scoring came in the sixth inning. Valparaiso had runners on first and second, but Amber Timmerman's fly out to center field ended the inning.
"Defensively we had a decent effort, but offensively we couldn't make anything happen," Valparaiso coach Tracy Corneil said. "We didn't capitalize."
Wheeler pitcher Amber Anderson struck out three, one walk and gave up four hits. On the offensive end, Anderson drew a walk and had one hit during the game.
"I thought Amber battled today. Amber has to be more of a pitcher for us this year than she was last year. She didn't pitch as much last year, and just didn't throw that often. We're going to need her this year and I thought she did a great job of battling in there," Bruner said.
The Bearcat's outfield had a big day, catching four fly-outs from the Viking batters and adjusting to the wind.
"Our outfield caught everything that was hit to them, they did a good job battling the elements out there," Bruner said.
The Vikings had four hits and left six runners on base. Evann Grabow struck out three and walked three batters in her second start of the season.
"I thought she did a great job," Corneil said. "She kept them (Wheeler) off balance a little bit, her mix of speeds was good, and she puts good spin on the ball. She had a good outing tonight."
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