St. Louis, Mo., March 30, 2021 – The Washington University in St. Louis softball team pulled away late for an 8-3 win over Greenville Tuesday afternoon at the WU Softball Field.

First Year Ashley Kennedy had a stellar game at the plate for the Bears (5-6), going 3-for-3 with her first two career home runs and four RBIs. Kennedy helped WashU keep pace with the Panthers (4-9) during some tight early innings.

Kennedy kicked off the scoring for the Bears with a solo shot in the second inning. Greenville responded in the third inning with a two-run home run by shortstop Desirae Yost to briefly pull ahead. WashU tied things up at 2-2 in the bottom of the third when sophomore Tami Wong came in to score on a Greenville error. 

Kennedy hit another solo shot in the fourth inning to put the Bears back up for good and WashU added four more insurance runs in the fifth inning and one in the sixth to push the advantage to 8-2. Junior Nicole Hay and sophomore Eimear Cunningham both picked up RBI hits in the fourth while Kennedy added a two-run single. Wong drove in the lone sixth-inning run to account for WashU's scoring.

Greenville added a run in the seventh inning, but the WashU defense held up strong behind starter Madison Denton (3-3) who earned the win after striking out four and allowing three runs on six hits over seven innings of work. Cunningham notably made a diving catch in center field to save a run and record the second out of the final frame.

Also for WashU, Wong went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run while junior Katie Gould went 2-for-4 with two stolen bases and two runs. 

The Bears will be on the road Friday, April 2, for a 2 p.m. doubleheader at Illinois Wesleyan.