WASHINGTON, Pa. -- A pair of late comebacks helped visiting Franciscan earn the doubleheader sweep over the Washington & Jefferson College softball team. The Barons rallied for a 3-2 game one victory in eight innings before adding a 7-3 win over the Presidents in game two.
Game One Recap - Franciscan 3, W&J 2 (Eight Innings)
After three scoreless frames by both teams, the Presidents got on the board in the bottom of the fourth when junior
Laura Ryder (Sewickley, Pa./North Allegheny) singled and came around to score on an RBI groundout by freshman
Brooklynn Miller (Martins Ferry, Pa./Buckeye Local).
The Barons quickly countered by pushing across an unearned run to tie the game at 1-1 in the top of the fifth. In the bottom of the frame, sophomore second baseman
Brooke McCleester (Johnstown, Pa./Conemaugh Valley) helped W&J retake the lead with a solo home run to left field, making the score 2-1. The homer was the first of the season for McCleester.
W&J maintained the one-run advantage into the seventh inning. Down to its last three outs, the Barons put the leadoff batter on and then used a stolen base to move the runner into scoring position with no outs. After a groundout moved the runner to third base, a sacrifice fly to center field tied the score at 2-2.
Senior shortstop
Rachel Johnson (Orchard Park, N.Y./Orchard Park) stroked a one-out double to give W&J life in the bottom of the seventh. However, Johnson was stranded as the potential winning run at third base when Franciscan forced a pop up to left field to end the threat.
With the international tiebreaker implemented in extra innings, Franciscan took a 3-2 advantage with a run in the top of the eighth inning. W&J would have a chance to tie in the bottom of the inning. The Presidents put two runners on base but could not push across the tying run.
Junior
Brooke Lapia (Oakdale, Pa./Chartiers Valley) led the Presidents in game one, reaching base in all four plate appearances, going 3-for-3 with a walk. Johnson tallied a pair of doubles while Ryder also registered a two-hit effort.
Senior pitcher
Taylor Andres (Bethel Park, Pa./Bethel Park) took the loss in the circle despite allowing just one earned run over 8.0 strong innings. Andres finished with season-high six strikeouts and four walks.
Game Two Recap - Franciscan 7, W&J 3
W&J jumped out to a 3-0 lead in game two, manufacturing single runs in the second, third and fourth innings.
In the second inning, W&J used two-out lightning to score first, as freshman
Sarah Labbe (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonksee) singled then stole second before scoring on a RBI single by junior pitcher
Kristen Fuertes (West Chester, Pa./West Chester).
Ryder then produced a clutch two-out RBI double to plate McCleester in the third inning before junior
Brooke Shuck (Huntingdon, Pa./Huntingdon) used a two-out RBI single to score Lapia in the fourth.
Franciscan used big innings in the fifth and sixth innings to take control. The Barons scored four runs on five hits in the fifth to take a 4-3 advantage. The visitors then added three more runs on three hits in the sixth, including a big two-run home run to swell the Franciscan lead to four runs (7-3).
Eight different Presidents tallied a hit in game two, with Ryder and Lapia each recording a double. Fuertes suffered the loss in the circle, allowing four runs in 4.1 innings.
Franciscan improves to 10-3 overall while W&J falls to 5-11. The Presidents host La Roche College on Tuesday, March 26. Start time for the non-conference doubleheader is scheduled for 3 p.m.
