WASHINGTON, Pa. – The Washington & Jefferson College softball team (13-16, 8-10) split in a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader with the visiting Allegheny Gators (20-14, 13-7) on their Senior Recognition Night. The Presidents took game one, 3-1, before falling in the nightcap, 13-4.
Izzy DiPietro-Harvey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice), A'Niyah Dixon (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice), Kyra Blauth (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Hills), Sydney Lang (Glenshaw, Pa./Shaler), Aliyah Schraeder and Austine Kinney (Brunswick, Ohio/Brunswick) were all recognized between games as this year's graduating class.
Maddie Luxenberger (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township), Hannah Allen (Harrison City, Pa./Penn Trafford) and Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity) led the offense for the Presidents with three hits apiece between both games. Allen led in RBIs with two on the day.
Game One – W&J 3, Allegheny 1
Allegheny was the first to find the scoreboard putting up a run in the top of the second inning, 1-0.
The Presidents answered in the bottom of the fourth inning. Aggressive baserunning by M. Luxenberger and Blauth put up two runs for the Presidents on an error, 2-0.
W&J tacked on an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth as Allen smacked a homer over the right field fence, 3-1.
Kaylee Witner (Freeland, Pa./MMI Preparatory School) gained the win in the circle for W&J, only allowing three hits and waving five Gators.
Game Two – W&J 4, Allegheny 13
Seven Presidents put up hits in the loss. Schraeder, Allen and Rinehart all had multi-hit efforts with two each.
Allegheny led off with three runs in the top of the first before adding another in the second, 4-0.
W&J found the scoreboard in the bottom of the second, scoring their first run of game two. Deanna Gratton (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway) placed a single in center field to plate Rinehart for the lone run before Allegheny responded with five runs in the top of the third, 9-1.
The Presidents chipped away at the deficit as Allen and M. Luxenberger each pushed in a run in the bottom of the frame, 9-3. W&J added one more run in the bottom of the fifth as a single up the middle from Kinney drove M. Luxenberger home, 9-4.
The Gators pushed in four more runs in the final inning to claim the 13-4 win over the Presidents.
Taylor Dunn (Washington, Pa./Trinity) suffered the loss on the mound for the Red & Black after 2.1 innings of work. Macayle Thornhill (Warren, Ohio/Jackson-Milton) relieved Dunn for 4.1 innings and waved one Allegheny batter before Witner entered to close out the game.
Up Next: The Presidents hit the road for their final PAC doubleheader at Bethany College on Saturday (April 26). The first game is set to get underway at 1:00 p.m.
