KISSIMMEE, Fla. – The Washington & Jefferson College softball team (3-5) split on day five of their spring break trip at The Spring Games. W&J opened the day with a 3-0 victory over Blackburn (6-5) before dropping a close 3-1 game to Benedictine (8-2).
W&J 3, Blackburn 0
Five W&J batters picked up one hit including
Anna Luxenberger (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township),
Deanna Gratton (Monroeville, Pa./Gateway),
Mirranda Rinehart (Washington, Pa./Trinity), Savannah Bobnar and
Maddie Luxenberger (Montoursville, Pa./Loyalsock Township). The Luxenberger sisters batted in two of the three runs.
W&J drove in all three runs in the fourth inning. M. Luxenberger walked the first run of the game with the bases loaded.
Julia DiPietro-Harvey (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) reached on an error by the center fielder, drawing in
Sydney VanNess (Warren, Ohio/Howland) from third. A sacrifice flyout from A. Luxenberger drove in Bobnar to score the final run of the matchup.
Macayle Thornhill (Warren, Ohio/Jackson-Milton) was the key to the Presidents' first shutout victory of the season, pitching a two-hit shutout for W&J in all 7.0 innings on the mound. Thornhill picked up the win to move to 1-1 on the season.
W&J 1, Benedictine 3
DiPietro-Harvey had a standout game two for the Presidents, finishing 3-for-4 on the day. The senior accounted for three of W&J's four hits, with the other coming off the bat of M. Luxenberger.
After surrendering a run in the top of the first inning, the Presidents responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame. A DiPietro-Harvey single kicked off the inning followed by a hit by pitch to A. Luxenberger. Gratton was also hit by a pitch batters later to load the bases. VanNess worked a full-count walk to drive in the team's first and only run of game two, 1-1.
Benedictine added runs in the fifth and seventh innings to take the close 3-1 victory. Both teams left multiple scoring opportunities on the table, leaving seven or more runners on base (W&J 8 – Benedictine 7).
Braelyn Altman (Pittsburgh, Pa./Taylor Allderdice) picked up the loss with 6.1 innings pitched.
Haylee Young (Zanesville, Ohio/John Glenn) pitched 0.2 of an inning in relief during the seventh frame to close out the matchup.
W&J returns to action on Friday (March 13) to take on the Mount Saint Mary (N. Y.) Knights and the Loras Duhawks for the final day of play at The Spring Games. Game one will be at 10:00 a.m., and game 2 will be at 12:15 p.m. Both games will take place at the Fortune Road Athletic Complex in Kissimmee.
