MEADVILLE, Pa. -- The Washington & Jefferson softball team earned a road split with Allegheny College Saturday afternoon in Presidents' Athletic Conference play. The Presidents pulled out a 5-4 win in extra innings before falling in the second game by a 7-2 score.
Saturday's extra inning win marked the fourth time this season in PAC play that W&J has scored the eventual game-winning run in its final at-bat.
The split helps W&J improve to 8-8 in conference and remain in the hunt for a spot in the upcoming PAC Tournament in which the top six teams qualify. Allegheny, who entered the day in first place in the PAC, sits at 13-5 in conference play and 22-8 overall. The split bumps the Gators down to second place in the conference standings under Westminster, who is 12-4 in PAC play after their sweep of Thiel College Saturday.
Game One – W&J 5, Allegheny 4 (8 Innings)
After a scoreless opening inning, W&J got on the board with a sacrifice fly from
Julia DiPietro-Harvey (Pittsburgh, Pa./ Taylor Allderdice) that
Sydney Petrowski (Lemont Furnace, Pa./Connellsville) in the top of the second inning.
After retiring the next three gators in order, the Presidents would find the scoring column not once, but twice more in the top of the third.
Singles from
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va. / T.C. Williams) and
Kyra Blauth (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) would open the frame with both runners advancing on a pass ball in the following at bat.
Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa. / MMI Preparatory School) would bring in Keough on a fielder's choice that all runners would be ruled safe in leaving Blauth on third and Witner at first. A single from Petrowski would knock in Blauth to give the Presidents a 3-0 leg up heading into the fourth.
The Red & Black offense was halted as they were retired three up three down in the top of the fourth. The Gators evened the score with three runs in the bottom of the fourth.
Neither team would score foin the fifth, six or seventh innings so the teams headed to extra innings.
Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity) opened up the eighth with a leadoff single. Two batters later, DiPietro-Harvey crushed a double to left center that scored Rinehart from first.
Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) followed with an RBI single through the left side in what proved to be an important insruance run.
Allegheny got a two-out RBI single to trim the gap to 5-4. However, Witner induced a groundout back to her for the game's final out.
Blauth led the offensive charge with three hits in the first outing. Schraeder, Petrowski, and
Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity) all had multi-hit efforts for the Red & Black as well.
Witner battled through eight innings in the circle to pick up the gutsy victory. Witner improved her record to 4-3 this season. Witner struck out four batters in the victory.
Blauth paced the offense with three hits. Schraeder, Petrowski and Rinehart finished with two hits apiece. W&J handed Allegheny pitcher Aleya Belardine, one of the top pitchers in the PAC, just her third loss all season as the sophomore dropped to 10-3.
Game Two – Allegheny 7, W&J 2
Allegheny left little doubt in game two as they picked up the split. The Gators hit a solo home run in the first before adding a two-run shot in the second inning. The Gators led 7-0 after three innings of play.
Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) doubled and scored on a RBI single by
Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) in the sixth to help W&J break up the shutout.
The Presidents would tally one more run in the seventh inning. The run came on a solo home run by Rinehart, the first of her collegiate career, to end the game with a score of 7-2.
Deanna Gratton (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) led the team offensively in game two with three hits. Allen was the only other President to record multiple hits in game two.
Petrowski started and suffered the loss in the circle. The senior allowed four runs in two innings of work.
Taylor Dunn (Washington, Pa./Trinity) worked three innings in relief. The freshman allowed three runs on seven hits.
Jordan Hinz (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) would shut out the gators in the final two innings allowing no hits, no runs and striking out two.
On Deck: W&J heads to Grove City College for another league doubleheader on Wednesday, April 24. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. in Grove City, Pa.
