WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College softball team saw its 2022 season come to an end after earning a split against PAC competitor Geneva College Saturday afternoon at Brooks Park. W&J claimed the first game by a 5-4 victory but fell in the second game by a 5-0 score.
The Presidents needed a pair of victories over Geneva Saturday afternoon to qualfity for the Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament. The split gave Geneva the final spot in next week's tournament.
W&J ends their season with an 11-15 overall and 7-11 conference play records while Geneva will advance on to the tournament with 19-15 overall and 9-9 league record.
Game One - W&J 5, Geneva 4
W&J opened up with a huge first inning to help them gain a confident lead over Geneva for a majority of game one.
Peyton Eckenrode (York Haven, Pa./Northeastern) opened with a single to left field while
Kasey Scears (Washington, Pa./Chariters Houston) was hit by a pitch and
Mackenzie Boyd (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) drew a walk to load the bases with two outs with
Olivia Dewick (Pittsburgh, Pa./Keystone Oaks) on deck. Dewick recorded an infield single to plate Eckenrode for the first run of the game before
Austine Kinney (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) launched a ball to left center field for a two RBI single that gave W&J an early 3-0 lead.
Dewick drew a walk to open the third inning before Kinney recorded a double to left center, advancing Dewick to scoring into position at third.
Emily Schmucker (Latrobe, Pa./Latrobe) was able to plate Dewick with her sacrifice fly to center field to stretch the W&J lead to 4-0.
Julia Hart got the Golden Tornadoes right back into the game with one swing. She launched a three-run home run over the center field fence in the fifth inning to close the deficit to one at 4-3.
Scears led off the inning with a double due to a Golden Tornado error.
Haileigh Reed (Sproul, Pa./Claysburg Kimmel), who would pinch run for Scears, advanced to third base on a wild pitch before Boyd would secure the win with her walk-off double to left center.
Alisha Kulka (Hanover, Pa./South Western) earned the win in the circle as she recorded nine hits and four runs while not issuing a single walk throughout seven innings.
Eckenrode had a strong offensive effort as she recorded a three-of-four effort at the plate while
Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) and Kinney recorded two hits apiece for W&J.
Game Two - Geneva 5, W&J 0
Geneva built an early 3-0 lead after three innings of play. W&J had two golden opportunities to end Geneva's shutout performance. Unfortunately, the Presidents left the bases loaded twice in the game.
Kinney and Boyd would record multi-hit efforts in game two while
Sarah Labbe (Belgrade, Maine/Messalonksee) recorded the only other hit for the Red & Black.
Jordan Hinz (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) took the loss in game two. Hinz allowed three runs on six hits in three innings of work.
