WINTER HAVEN, Fla. --
Mackenzie Boyd (Beaver, Pa./Beaver) smacked a two-run walk-off double to push the Washington & Jefferson softball team past Carleton by a 7-6 score in the opener for the Presidents on Friday afternoon at the PFX Spring Games in Polk County. W&J fell by a 8-1 score to Gustavus Adolphus in the finale. The Boyd double allowed W&J to earn a split versus competitors from the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (MIAC) on their final day of action in the Sunshine State.
W&J 7, Carleton 6
The Presidents trailed for the entirety of the game before the late game rally. Carleton put up four runs in the top of the first inning to stake claim to an early lead.
W&J put up three runs of its own in the bottom of the second inning.
Sydney Petrowski (Lemont Furnace, Pa./Connellsville) and
Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) contributed RBI singles in the frame for the Presidents.
Fueled by a home run by Cassie Cundiff, Carleton added a pair of runs in the top of the fourth inning to push the lead to 6-3. However, the Presidents kept chipping away. In the bottom of the inning,
Kasey Scears (Washington, Pa./Chartiers Houston) doubled home
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va. / T.C. Williams) and
Peyton Eckenrode (York Haven, Pa./Northeastern) with two outs to bring W&J within one at 6-5.
Both teams missed scoring opportunities in the sixth inning, as double plays ended threats in both halves of the inning.
Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa. / MMI Preparatory School) kept Carleton off the board in the top of the seventh and set W&J up with a chance to walk off in the bottom of the frame.
Kyra Blauth (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) led off with a single and advanced to second on a single to left center by Scears.
Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford) used a successful sacrifice bunt that put both runners into scoring position. Boyd smacked a 2-0 pitch to deep left center field to score Blauth and Scears to give W&J the victory.
Scears and Boyd recorded multi-hit efforts as W&J finished with 10 hits. Eckenrode reached base three times as well.
Witner worked 1.2 innings to record her first collegiate victory.
Gustavus Adolphus 8, W&J 1
The Golden Gusties took an early lead and busted things open with a five-run fifth inning en route to 8-1 victory over the Presidents. Gustavus Adolphus scored two runs in the first before W&J countered back with a run in the top of the third on a two-out RBI single by Scears that scored Boyd.
The Gusties added a run in the bottom of the fourth to stretch its lead to 3-1. Gustavus Adolphus scored five runs on five hits in the fifth to take control as the lead swelled to 8-1.
Jordan Hinz (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) suffered the loss in the circle, as she drops to 3-3. Boyd finished with two hits and reached base in three plate appearances in the loss.
On Deck: W&J (6-6 overall) returns to action on Wednesday, March 29 when they open Presidents' Athletic Conference play at Westminster. First pitch of the doubleheader is slated for 3:30 p.m.
