WASHINGTON, Pa. -- A pair of strong pitching performances highlighted the Washington & Jefferson College softball team split with Grove City at Brooks Park on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Presidents surrendered just one run over the two games as W&J fell 1-0 in game one but post a mercy rule 8-0 five inning victory in game two.
 
W&J moves to 7-4-1 and Grove City stands at 4-6 after the doubleheader.
 
Game 1 – Grove City 1, W&J 0
 
The first game featured a pitchers' dual between Alisha Kulka (Hanover, Pa./South Western) and Grove City's Ashley Cornelius.
 
Kulka allowed one run, four hits and struck out three batters. Cornelius allowed six hits, walked five and had seven strikeouts.
 
The game's only run was scored in the top of the third inning when Grove City's Cara Polese drove in Ashley Mietlicki on a sacrifice fly to shallow left field.
 
The Presidents had multiple runners on base in the first, second, fourth and seventh innings but were never able to break through against Cornelius. Grove City's pitcher delivered 132 pitches without allowing a W&J run.
 
Sarah Labbe (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonksee) had a pair of hits, including a seventh inning double that put runners on second and third with two outs in the final inning. Cornelius was able to wriggle out of that final jam unscathed to collect the shutout win.
 
Game 2 – W&J 8, Grove City 0 (5 Innings)
 
The W&J bats came alive in game two to support a five inning, three-hit shutout by freshman Pitcher Jordan Hinz (Ellicott, City, Md./Centennial) . Hinz picks up her fifth win of the season.
 
The Presidents smacked 13 hits in the win and used a five-run fifth inning to turn a close game into a mercy rule situation.
 
Peyton Eckenrode (York Haven, Pa./Northeaster) smacked a first inning leadoff double and was brought home for the game's first run on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brooke Stout (Berwick, Pa./Berwick Area Senior).
 
Grove City threatened to tie the game in the top of the third with back-to-back singles to open the inning. Hinz responded with one of her five strikeouts, a pop out and a punchout to escape the inning.
 
Stout drove in Eckenrode again to put W&J ahead 2-0 with a double in the home half of the third inning.
 
Haylee Holman (Baden, Pa./Ambridge) made it 3-0 Presidents with a solo home run over the right field fence to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning.
 
After Hinz retired the Wolverines in order in the top of the fifth, W&J smacked six hits in the bottom of the frame to plate five runs to end the game.
 
Labbe led off the fifth for W&J with a double into right center field. Stout collected her third RBI of the day with a single.
 
Pinch runner Kate Barone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) scored on an RBI double by Holman to make it 5-0 Presidents. Hinz followed Holman with a double of her own to push the W&J advantage to 6-0.
 
Pinch runner Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) scored on a wild pitch and Kasey Scears (Washington, Pa./Chartiers Houston) plated Kulka for the game's seventh and eighth runs to trigger to mercy rule victory at 8-0 in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Eckenrode, Scears, Stout, Holman and Hinz all had two hits for the Presidents.
 
Eckenrode scored twice. Stout doubled and had three RBI. Holman homered, doubled, drove in a pair of runs and scored twice.
 
 
W&J hosts Waynesburg on Saturday.