BETHANY, W.Va. – The Presidents dropped a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader at Bethany by scores of 2-1 and 10-5 on Thursday, April 12.
 
With the losses, Washington & Jefferson drops to 6-12 overall and 2-4 in the PAC.
 
In the first game, W&J trailed, 2-1, entering the top of the seventh inning. Catcher Brooke Lapia (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley) led off with a single and was lifted for a pinch runner. Shortstop Meghan Staab (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) reached on a bunt single, but the play ended in a double play as both runners were thrown out trying to advance. Second baseman Rachel Johnson (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) then doubled down the right-field line with two outs to extend her hitting streak to 17 games, but the final out was recorded on a foul out.
 
Bethany struck first with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning, but the Presidents answered back with a run in the top of the second. Left fielder Brooke McCleester (Johnstown, Pa./Conemaugh Valley) led off with a single up the middle and scored on an RBI one-out single to right center by Lapia.
 
Defensively, W&J turned four double plays in the opener. Taylor Andres (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) suffered the loss to drop to 5-5 on the season, going the distance and allowing just six hits and no walks, plus a strikeout.
 
Andres helped herself at the plate, recording two of W&J's seven hits, while Lapia also had a pair of base knocks. Johnson walked twice to go along with her double.
 
In the nightcap, the Presidents fell behind 3-0 after two innings and got a run back in the top of the third when Staab singled to lead off and later scored when right fielder Ally Doty (Hilliard, Ohio/Hilliard Davidson) reached on a throwing error.
 
W&J ceded two runs in the bottom of the third, but got them both back in the top of the fourth. First baseman Danielle Kochka (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) and designated player Jamie Smith (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) began the frame with singled, and a two-out walk to Staab loaded the bases. Kochka scored on a wild pitch and the other two runners moved up a base to allow another run to score on an RBI infield single by Johnson. A bases-loaded RBI fielder's choice by Doty in the top of the sixth proved to be the last run of the day for the Presidents.
 
Kochka and Johnson (two RBI) both had three hits in the second game, while Smith and Staab each recorded a pair of hits. Kochka and Smith both belted doubles in the loss as well.
 
The Presidents will return to action with a PAC doubleheader at Westminster, set to begin at 1 p.m. on Saturday, April 14.