GROVE CITY, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College softball team suffered a pair of tough setbacks Wednesday afternoon in a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader at Grove City. The Wolverines edged the Presidents 2-1 in game one. Grove City then secured the sweep with a 6-5 game two victory in eight innings. The Wolverines scored the eventual winning run in their final at bats in both ends of the doubleheader.  
 
The losses drop W&J to 8-10 in PAC play and 11-17 overall. The Wolverines move to 10-8 in the conference and 20-14 overall. 

GAME ONE – Grove City 2, W&J 1
 
The opening game was a pitcher's duel by W&J's Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa. / MMI Preparatory School) and Grove City's Abigail Meadows.
 
The Presidents put up a run in the top of the third inning. Deanna Gratton (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) drew a leadoff walk. Two batters later, Savannah Keough (Alexandria, Va./T.C. Williams) singled to centerfield to advance Gratton to second base. Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity) came through with a two-out RBI single to left center to score Sydney Lang (Glenshaw, Pa. /Shaler). 
 
Grove City evened the score with a run in the bottom of the fifth. A one-out double helped the Wolverines put a pair of runners in scoring position. Witner retired reigning PAC Hitter of the Week Maci Linhart with a strikeout for the second out. However, an infield single by Evelyn Montone brought home the tying run to even the score at 1-1. 
 
W&J had a chance in the top of the sixth to push in front but left a pair of runners in scoring position. Grove City used a solo home run in the bottom of the sixth by Meadors to take a 2-1 lead. 
 
Kyra Blauth (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) produced the only multi-hit effort for W&J in game one. 
 
Witner gave up two runs in six innings of work. She struck out three and walked just one in the tough luck loss. 
 
GAME TWO – Grove City 7, W&J 6 
 
The Wolverines used a walk-off two-out RBI single by Evelyn Montone to in the bottom of the eighth inning to secure the game two victory and the sweep. 
 
W&J trailed 1-0 after the first and 4-0 after three innings before rallying back. The Presidents found the scoring column for the first time in the fourth. Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa./Penn-Trafford) drew a one-out walk and later scored on a single by Ashley Theimer (Woodstock, Md./Marriotts Ridge). 
 
W&J scored two more in the fifth to continue to chip away. All the damage came with two outs as Keough doubled and Petrowski followed with a walk to put two runners on. Blauth came through with an RBI single which plated Keough and Petrowski who came around on an errant throw. 
 
The Presidents evened the score at 4-4 in the sixth. Theimer reached on a one-out double and scored two batters later on an RBI single by Alex Miller ().  
 
Grove City came back with two runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Wolverines threatened for more as they loaded the bases with one out. However, Taylor Dunn (Washington, Pa./Trinity) picked up a strikeout and a groundout to escape further damage. 
 
Keough reached on an error to lead off the seventh. After two consecutive outs were recorded, Allen smacked a triple to right field to score Keough to trim the deficit to 6-5. Allen then raced home on a wild pitch to tie the score at 6-6. 
 
The Wolverines were retired in order in the bottom of the same. Likewise for the Presidents in the top of the eighth. In the bottom of the eighth, Grove City put its leadoff runner on with a single. A sac bunt allowed the Grove City runner to advance all the way from first to third with just one out. Montone's walk-off single followed. 
 
Theimer recorded three hits to pace the offense in game two. Allen tallied two hits and scored two runs. 
 
Petrowski worked five innings and gave up five runs on nine hits. Petrowski struck out five and walked two. Hinz took the loss after allowing one run in 1.2 innings. 
 
ON DECK: W&J concludes the regular season when the Bethany Bison visit Brooks Park on Saturday, April 27. The important PAC doubleheader starts at 1 p.m. W&J will honor its four seniors prior to first pitch of game one. Both teams enter the twinbill with hopes of qualifying for next week's PAC Tournament.