WASHINGTON, Pa. - The Washington & Jefferson softball team dropped both ends of a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader to visiting Geneva College on Wednesday afternoon at Brooks Park. The Golden Tornadoes rallied back from a deficit to take game one by a score of 11-8 before shutting out the Presidents by a 6-0 score in game two.
The losses drop W&J to 4-4 in conference play and 7-11 overall. Geneva improves to 5-3 in PAC play and a 11-11 overall record.
Game One – Geneva 11, W&J 8
W&J would be off to a promising start defensively as they were able to shut down the Golden Tornado offense in the first two innings with a three up three down inning in the first.
Geneva would regain their footing in the box and score the game's first run in the top of the third inning. Geneva had a runner break home and score during a run down between first and second base. The runner between first and second was eventually tagged out but the runner from third scored on the play.
Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa. / Penn-Trafford) continued her stellar sophomore season at the plate. Allen slugged a solo home run to put the Presidents on the board and tie things up 1-1 heading into the fifth. The first of three game one hits by Allen resulted in her third home run of the season.
The Golden Tornadoes responded immediately with a lead-off double that would spark a four-run rally in the top of the frame to put Geneva up 5-1. The GT's collected four hits during the frame to the lead.
The Presidents flashed their resilience as they came back and scored six times in the bottom half of the fifth. An RBI single from
Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette), a two-run single by Allen, and a bases-clearing three-run double by
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) helped W&J push six runs across to put the Presidents back in front at 7-5.
Despite the daunting rally from W&J, Geneva showcased consistency throughout their lineup scoring four more runs on five hits in the sixth. This left the Presidents down by a 9-7 deficit with two more chances to bat in the game.
Despite chipping away a run in the sixth inning on an RBI single to right center by
Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa./MMI Preparatory School), W&J was unable to get the bats going in the seventh after the Golden Tornadoes had put across two insurance runs in the top of the frame to secure the 11-8 win.
Jordan Hinz (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) was saddled with the loss after entering the game in the fifth inning as relief for Witner.
Allen led the offensive charge by going 3-for-4 with three RBI and two runs. Schraeder and Witner also put up multi-hit efforts with two apiece. Keough matched Allen with the team high three RBI.
Game Two – Geneva 6, W&J 0
The visiting Golden Tornadoes opened the scoring with three runs in the second inning followed by two more in the top of the third before cruising through the rest of the game and adding a late insurance run in the top of the seventh to claim the 6-0 shutout victory over the Red & Black.
The W&J bats mustered six hits in game two. Senior pitcher
Sydney Petrowski (Lemont Furnace, Pa./Connellsville) led the team with two hits, both of which were singles to right field.
Petrowski suffered the loss in game two. She worked all seven innings in the circle.
On Deck: W&J heads on the road for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend. The Presidents travel to Chatham on Friday and head to Saint Vincent on Sunday.
