WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College softball team split in a Presidents Athletic Conference doubleheader against the visiting Chatham Cougars Tuesday evening.

Game One – Chatham 8, W&J 7

Chatham gained a steady 2-0 lead after tallying a run in the top of the first and second innings. W&J responded in the bottom of the second with a solo run.

Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford) drew a leadoff walk before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Maddie Luxenberger (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township) drove in Allen on a double cracked to right center field, 2-1.

Both teams were retired three-up, three-down in the third before Chatham tacked on another run in the top of the fourth, 3-1.

Sydney VanNess (Warren, Ohio/Howland) started a two-out rally with a two-out single up the middle. Aliya Schraeder (McDonald, Pa./South Fayette) drew a walk to put runners on first and second for the Presidents. Anna Luxenberger (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township) kept things going with a single to left field that loaded the bases. Julia-DiPietro-Harvey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) gave the Red & Black their first lead of the contest by smacking her first collegiate home run. DiPietro-Harvey launched a pitch over the left center fence for a grand slam to put the Presidents up, 5-3.

Chatham persisted and put up two runs in the top of the fifth to tie the game followed by three runs in the top of the sixth to regain the lead, 7-5.

Schraeder posted her 100th-career hit as a President in the bottom of the seventh, keeping W&J alive during their late comeback attempt. The Presidents were able to put up two runs in the bottom of the seventh but unable to overcome the Chatham lead as the Cougars claimed an 8-7 victory in game one.

Macayle Thornhill (Warren, Ohio/Jackson-Milton) suffered the loss on the mound for the Presidents tossing 5.1 innings and striking out two. Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa./MMI Preparatory School) entered the game in relief and closed out the final 1.2 innings of play while also fanning two.

Game Two – W&J 10, Chatham 2 (6 innings)

W&J struck back with a top tier offensive performance in game two, quickly building a 9-0 lead over the first two innings.

Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity) drew a walk to reach first base in the bottom of the first inning. Kyra Blauth (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills) drove in the first run, knocking a double up the left field live that scored Rinehart. Blauth then advanced to third on a passed ball.

Thanks to a single and a stolen base from Allen in the next at bat, a double to right center by VanNess pushed in two more runs for the Red & Black, 3-0.

VanNess advanced to third on a ground out and was driven home by a single up the middle from Schraeder. Schraeder was progressed to third on a single up the right field line from Deanna Gratton (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) before scoring on a single to right field by A. Luxenberger, 5-0.

In the bottom of the second W&J kept the hit train going and scored four more runs on seven hits. Rinehart, Blauth, VanNess, M. Luxenberger, Schraeder, A. Luxenberger and J. DiPietro-Harvey all singled and accounted for the seven hits. Allen pushed in the first run on a ground out and earned an RBI among VanNess, Schraeder and A. Luxenberger who laced RBI singles to put the Presidents ahead 9-0 after two innings.

Chatham put up a lone run in both the top of the third and fourth innings and held W&J's offense at bay to stave off the mercy rule going into the sixth inning down 9-2.

Aside from a leadoff single by Chatham, W&J handled the top of the sixth retiring the following three batters in order.

VanNess led off the bottom of the inning with a single to right center, representing the winning run. VanNess then advanced to second on a wild pitch in the next at bat. M. Luxenberger laid down a sacrifice bunt to push VanNess to third and Schraeder sealed the deal with a walk-off single to the pitcher the game, 10-8.

Taylor Dunn (Washington, Pa./Trinity) was credited the victory on the mound for the Presidents. Dunn pitched all 6.0 innings and waved three batters at the plate.

Up Next: The Presidents return to action next on Sunday (April 5) as they host the Saint Vincent Bearcats for a PAC doubleheader set to get underway at 1:00 p.m.