GROVE CITY, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College softball team remained red-hot with its fourth-consecutive Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader sweep. The Presidents dispatched Grove City 3-2 twice on Saturday afternoon.
W&J moves to 17-12-1 on the season and 9-5 in PAC play. Grove City falls to 11-17 overall, 6-8 PAC.
Outstanding starting pitching performances by
Alisha Kulka (Hanover, Pa./South Western) and
Jordan Hinz (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) were supported with a pair of saves by
Sydney Petrowski (Lemont Furnace, Pa./Connellsville) as the Presidents emerged victorious in a pair of one-run games.
Game One – W&J 3, Grove City 2
Grove City used a pair of doubles to score the game's first run in the bottom of the third inning.
W&J quickly responded in the top of the fourth as Breanne Thomas singled to plate
Peyton Eckenrode (York Haven, Pa./Northeastern). An error in right field allowed
Sarah Labbe (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonksee) to score a go-ahead run on the play.
Olivia Dewick (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) singled home Thomas to give W&J a 3-1 lead.
Grove City trimmed the margin to a single run in the bottom of the fifth. An RBI double made it 3-2 W&J and a wild pitch placed the game-tying run at third with two outs. Kulka kept the Presidents ahead by coaxing a ground ball back to the President pitcher to end the inning.
The Presidents used a hit, an error and a walk to load the bases in the sixth but could not add to their lead.
Petrowski entered the game in the pitcher's circle in the seventh, and secured her second save of the season by getting three-straight outs after allowing the leadoff batter to reach base safely.
Kulka picked up her sixth win of the season after throwing 6.0 innings and allowing two earned runs. She allowed six hits, walked none and struck out four.
Labbe had two hits and scored on of W&J's three runs.
Game Two – W&J 3, Grove City 2
W&J took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game two as Eckenrode tripled to lead off the contest.
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) brought her home with a groundout and the Presidents led 1-0.
Grove City took a 2-1 lead with a two-run double in the home half of the first.
The Presidents tied the game in the third when
Brooke Stout (Berwick, Pa./Berwick Area Senior) singled home Eckenrode.
Grove City put runners on the corners with one out in the bottom of the fifth inning, but a 6-4-3 double play kept the Wolverines off the scoreboard and the tie intact.
With runners on first and third and one out in the top of the sixth, Grove City attempted to turn a double play in a similar situation, but Eckenrode could not be thrown out and
Kate Barone (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) scored the eventual winning run on the play.
Petrowski entered the game in the seventh and worked through a four-batter inning to record her third consecutive save. In W&J's current eight-game win streak, Petrowski has two wins and three saves in five games that were decided by a total of seven runs.
Hinz allowed seven hits and two earned runs in 6.0 innings to earn her eighth win of the year.
Eckenrode had a hand in all three runs as she scored twice and drove in a run.
The Presidents bring their winning streak to Beaver Falls next Saturday.
