Birmingham, Ala., March 7, 2014 – The No. 18-ranked Washington University in St. Louis softball team ran its overall record to 5-0 with a doubleheader sweep at Birmingham Southern College Friday afternoon in Birmingham, Ala.

Senior Maggie Ingell went 3-for-3 with four RBIs and two runs scored in game one, and was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in game two. She is hitting a team-high .789 (15-of-19) with four doubles, a triple, two home runs and 13 RBIs in the first five games of the 2014 season.

Washington U. 11, Birmingham Southern 2 (six innings) – Game One
The Bears had 13 hits in the game one victory and took advantage of three errors by Birmingham Southern. Senior Kelsey Neal was 2-for-4 with a three-run home run in the sixth inning, while junior Paige Biles (2-for-4, run scored) and sophomore Brooke Hofer (2-for-3, RBI) also had multiple hit games.

Ingell had an RBI triple in the first inning to put the Bears up 1-0, but Birmingham Southern responded with two runs in the bottom half of the inning off WUSTL sophomore starter Annie Pitkin to go up 2-1.

WUSTL regained the lead for good after Ingell singled driving in two runs to make it 3-2. The Bears broke the game open with five runs on five hits in the fifth and took advantage of two errors. Ingell singled to right driving in a run, and then graduate student Stacy Berg doubled to left scoring two more runs. Hofer added an RBI to right to push the advantage to 8-2.

The Bears added three runs in the sixth on a three-run home run by Neal to round out the scoring. The home run for Neal was the 18th of her career, tied for fifth most in school history. Pitkin (2-0) allowed five hits and two earned runs while striking out six. Sophomore Amanda Kalupa pitched the sixth and did not allow a hit.

Washington U. 5, Birmingham Southern 4 – Game Two
Tied at 4-4 in the seventh in game two, Ingell lead off the inning with a single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Neal. Berg followed with a single up the middle driving in Ingell to make it 5-4. Kalupa (2-0) picked up the win tossing a scoreless sixth inning, while Pitkin got the save with a perfect seventh inning with two strikeouts.

Biles was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base, while Neal (2-for-4, RBI) and Berg (2-for-4, two RBIs) had multiple-hit games. The Bears had 12 hits in the win, their fifth-straight game of double figure hits.

Ingell gave the Bears the 1-0 lead for the second-straight game with a double to left. Biles got on to start the game with a single, and then stole second. She moved to third on a single by freshman Kenzie James, and then scored on the double by Ingell.

Birmingham Southern (3-7) scored three runs on four hits in the bottom of the third of WUSTL starting pitcher Kelsey Neal to make it 3-1. BSC held onto the 3-1 lead until the fifth, when the Bears scored three runs on two hits and took advantage of two errors.

After Biles and James reached on back-to-back errors to start the inning, junior Adrienne White singled to left to trim the lead to 3-2. An RBI single by Neal tied the game, and then an infield single by Berg gave Washington U. the 4-3 advantage. Birmingham Southern tied the game in the fifth with a run off Neal before Washington U. won the game in its last at-bat in the top of the seventh.

Washington U. returns to action Saturday, March 8, with a doubleheader at Wesleyan College. First pitch is set for 1 p.m. (ET) in Macon, Ga.

BEAR NOTEBOOK: The Bears are off to a 5-0 start for the second-straight season … The Bears have committed one error in five games and are hitting .437 as a team.