KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Washington & Jefferson College softball team closed out their spring break trip down south with a split on the day. The Presidents final two matchups of The Spring Games were against the Russell Sage College Gators and the Lake Forest College Foresters.

W&J 9, Russell Sage 5

The Presidents hung crooked numbers in four straight frames to overcome the Russell Sage Gators in game one. Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford) and Sydney VanNess (Warren, Ohio/Howland) led the Red & Black with three hits each in the outing. Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) led with three runs batted in.

W&J was the first to take put runs on the board in the third inning. The Presidents put up two runs on three hits. Back-to-back singles from Anna Luxenberger (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock) and Julia DiPietro-Harvey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) to right center and left field put runners on first and second for the Presidents. A double down the left field line brought in the on-base runners and racked up two RBIs for second baseman Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity) before the Gators escaped the inning.

VanNess led off the fourth inning with a double down the left field line before advancing to third on a second at-bat single by Allen. Schraeder batted in both baserunners with a hard single down the left field line. The Gators put up two in the fourth as well to set the score at 4-2 heading into the fifth.

Rinehart started the fifth with a leadoff walk and got boosted to second with a sacrifice bunt from Maddie Luxenberger (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock). A single from VanNess to left center allowed Rinehart to touch home plate before a double from Allen which scored VanNess to close out the scoring for the top of the inning with W&J ahead 5-2.

The Gators scored one in the top of the frame, cutting the deficit to 6-3.

W&J answered with two more runs yet again, as a throwing error by the Russel Sage third baseman scored two Presidents for the only runs of the inning.

The Presidents put up one more run in the top of the seventh on a single to left field from Schraeder before claiming the 9-5 victory over Russel Sage, shutting down the Gators after two runs in the bottom of the frame.

Taylor Dunn (Washington, Pa./Trinity) collected the win for the Presidents. Dunn got the start and put in all 7.0 innings of work in the circle and striking out two gators at the plate.

Lake Forest 9, W&J 3

Lake Forest College started the game with a steady flow of runs, batting in one run in both the first and second inning and four runs in the third before the Presidents were able to find the scoring column.

The Presidents only runs of the game would be one run in the fourth and two in the fifth.

Schraeder was able to beat out a short hit to the pitcher that doubled as an RBI, scoring M. Luxenberger in the process before Lake Forest recorded the third out of the inning.

The two runs in the bottom of the fourth were scored on an error by the Lake Forest third baseman and a fielder's choice, cutting the deficit to 6-3 still in favor of the Foresters.

Lake Forest put up three more runs over the course of the next two innings while keeping the Presidents scoreless to claim the 9-3 victory.

Macayle Thornhill (Warren, Ohio/Jackson-Milton) suffered the loss in the circle with 3.0 innings of work. Dunn came in as relief for the remainder of the game with three strikeouts in her 4.0 innings of pitching.

Up Next: The Presidents return to action next Friday (March 21), as they travel to Waynesburg, Pa. to take on the Yellow Jackets in their Presidents' Athletic Conference opener.