Softball |
WASHINGTON, PA. -- The Washington & Jefferson College softball team split of pair of games Sunday afternoon at Brooks Park. Due to poor weather conditions throughout the spring, Sunday was W&J's first appearance at Brooks Park in 2022.
The Presidents and Yellow Jackets battled to a split. The visitors rallied with a six-run seventh inning to take game one by a 7-2 score. However, W&J turned the tables in game two with a four-run sixth inning to take a 7-4 victory from second place Waynesburg.
Olivia Dewick (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks),
Alisha Kulka (Hanover, Pa./South Western), and
Sarah Labbe (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonksee) were honored prior to first pitch for four years of hard work and dedication to the program.
Game One - Waynesburg 7, W&J 2
W&J pounced on the visitors for a pair of runs in the bottom of the first.
Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) and
Peyton Eckenrode (York Haven, Pa./Northeastern) opened up the frame with back-to-back singles. The Presidents tallied their first run when an errant throw on a sac bunt attempt by
Sarah Labbe got away and allowed Schraeder to score.
Kasey Scears (Washington, Pa./Chartiers Houston) followed with an RBI single to plate Eckenrode.
Waynesburg tallied an unearned run in the third inning to cut the W&J lead in half at 2-1.
Neither team would score again until the seventh. Down to its final three outs, Waynesburg responded in a big way in the top of the seventh. The Yellow Jackets pushed across six runs on six hits and took advantage of two W&J errors in the frame.
W&J was retired in order in the bottom of the seventh to seal the Waynesburg win.
Labbe led W&J offensively with two hits. Schraeder, Eckenrode, and Scears all recorded one for the Red & Black.
Kulka got the start in the circle and worked six plus innings before taking the loss.
Game Two - W&J 7, Waynesburg 4
The Presidents started game two with another 2-0 lead after the first two innings. A two-out RBI single by Scears would plate Eckenrode, who singled to left center earlier in the inning.
Sydney Petrowski (Lemont Furnace, Pa./Connellsville) tacked on another run after she launched a ball over the left field fence for her first collegiate home run.
The Yellow Jackets would respond by scoring two runs in the top of the third to tie the game 2-2. The Presidents would not find the scoring column in the third inning after scoring a run each in the first two. Dewick would single in the bottom of the fourth and scored on an unearned run as Waynesburg committed a throwing error with two outs.
Once again, Waynesburg responded with two runs in the fifth to retake the lead at 4-3. That forced Petrowski to exit and
Jordan Hinz (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) came on in relief. Hinz came in with two on and two outs as Hinz she was able to induce a groundout to second base to end the inning.
Hinz was able to retire Waynesburg in order in the top of the sixth to keep the deficit at one run.
Scears led off the bottom of the sixth with a solo home run to tie the game at 4-4. A pair of walks would set the stage for
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams), who plated
Mackenzie Boyd (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) on an RBI infield single to give W&J the lead. Schraeder then followed with a two-run infield single as Hinz and Keough scored. Schraeder's hit gave W&J some much needed breathing room in the seventh.
Scears recorded a multi-hit effort for the Presidents in game two.
Hinz earned her second win in the circle after allowing just one hit and striking out three in her 2.1 innings of relief.
W&J will travel to Saint Vincent on Tuesday, April 26 for a conference doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 3:30 p.m.
