WASHINGTON, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson College softball team split with visiting Grove City College in a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader Wednesday afternoon in the Presidents final action at Brooks Park for the 2023 season.
The Wolverines took game one by a 5-1 score before the Presidents bounced back to secure a 5-2 game two victory.
Grove City 5, W&J 1 (Game One)
The Presidents were the first to score on the afternoon as
Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa. / South Fayette) drove in
Mackenzie Boyd (Beaver, Pa. / Beaver) with a RBI double to center field.
Grove City would respond shortly after in the midst of the top of the fourth as they would take a 2-1 lead after a sacrifice fly out and RBI groundout to take the lead.
The Wolverines would put away game one by adding an insurance run in each of the final three innings to take the 5-1 victory over the Presidents.
Eckenrode, Schraeder, Boyd, and
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va. / T.C. Williams) would have a hit apiece for the Presidents. Three of the four hits were doubles.
Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa. / MMI Preparatory School) allowed two earned runs in five innings of work.
Emily Schmucker (Latrobe, Pa. / Latrobe) pitched the final two innings for the Presidents.
W&J 5, Grove City 2 (Game Two)
W&J jumped out to an early lead in game two. Keough continued to swing a hot bat as she laced a two-run triple down the right field line to score Eckenrode and Boyd.
The Presidents would add another run in the bottom of the second as
Jordan Hinz (Ellicott City, Md. / Centennial) would reach on a throwing error which scored
Deanna Gratton (Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway) on a sac bunt attempt.
Keough played a role in another Presidents score in the fifth inning. Her sac fly scored Eckenrode to swell the lead to 4-0. The Wolverines would tally their first run of the game in the top of the sixth as a single up the middle cut the deficit to 4-1.
The Presidents would earn that run right back in the bottom of the sixth as center fielder
Julia DiPietro-Harvey (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Taylor Allderdice) would drive in
Kyra Blauth (Pittsburgh, Pa. / North Hills) to put the Presidents up 5-1 heading into the final inning.
Grove City threatened in the seventh inning. The Wolverines scored a run on a single and loaded the bases with two outs. However, W&J secured the split as Hinz was able to induce a groundout to Gratton to end the threat.
Hinz picked up the victory in game two. The junior allowed just one earned run in a full seven innings of work. Hinz struck out three and walked two.
Eckenrode and Kinney led the Presidents offense with two hits each while Keough had a great outing as she earned one hit and drove in three runs.
On Deck: Weather pending, W&J is scheduled to travel to Bethany for their last conference matchup of the season on Saturday, April 29. Start time is scheduled for 1 p.m.
