PITTSBURGH – An 8-5 Washington & Jefferson win came in game one before La Roche won game two, 6-5, on a walk-off single in nonconference softball action on Monday, April 30.
 
The doubleheader split puts the Presidents' overall record at 13-19 overall while the Red Hawks improve to 14-18
 
Rachel Johnson (Orchard, Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) started things off with a double to lead off game one. After moving up to third on a single by Brooke McCleester (Johnstown, Pa./Conemaugh Valley), Johnson scored the first run of the game on a RBI groundout from Taylor Andres (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park). Addy Helffrich (Sewickley, Pa./Avonworth) followed with an RBI single to score McCleester and add to the lead.
 
The Presidents kept the rally going throughout the inning as Danielle Kochka (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway), Brooke Lapia (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley) and Meghan Staab (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) all contributed RBI singles to give W&J a 5-0 lead after one half inning.
 
La Roche got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the fourth with two runs on two hits and an error before scoring twice more on three hits in the fifth to cut the Presidents' lead to 5-4.
 
With Johnson standing on third and one out in the inning, Andres laid down a sacrifice bunt to bring Johnson home. The next batter was Helffrich who worked a walk and came around to score on a double to left off the bat of Kochka to extend the lead to 7-4. The Presidents' final run came home in the top of the seventh when Johnson doubled home Kala McCauley (Penn, Pa./Penn-Trafford), who entered the game as a pinch runner.
 
The Red Hawks scored once in the bottom of the seventh but couldn't muster a rally strong enough to come back.
 
Johnson and Kochka combined to go 8-for-9 at the plate in game one with three RBI, three runs and three doubles between them. Lapia and Jamie Smith (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) both tallied two hits in the win. The Presidents combined for five stolen bases in the game and knocked out 15 hits, the 16th game of the season W&J has recorded at least 10 base hits.

Andres earned her 11th win of the season in the circle and pitched her 13th complete game of the season.

Game two remained scoreless until the top of the third when McCleester drove Johnson in from third on a sac fly to center. Smith proceeded to triple to right and then scored when Kochka sacrificed to the pitcher. 

Johnson tallied a RBI single in the fourth inning with two outs before the Presidents added another run in the fifth on an infield single from Lapia to push their lead to 4-0.

La Roche quickly answered and tied the game, 4-4, in the bottom of the fifth, scoring four unearned runs on four hits and a W&J error.

Three batters after Staab singled to start the sixth inning, Smith doubled to center to bring Staab across home plate to help the Presidents regain the lead. However, La Roche scored one more unearned run in the bottom of the sixth to tie the game again before walking off on a two-out infield single to short in the bottom of the seventh.

Kristen Fuertes (West Chester, Pa./West Chester) pitched a 6.2-inning complete game in the losing effort, allowing one earned run on nine hits with no walks and two strikeouts. Smith finished game two 3-for-4 and a home run shy of hitting for the cycle while driving in one run and scoring twice. Johnson collected two more hits in four at-bats and Lapia was 2-for-2 at the plate with a RBI and two walks. 

The Presidents will conclude their 2018 season on Tuesday, May 1, with a home doubleheader against Muskingum. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.