St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 25 Washington University in St. Louis softball team split on opening day of the 2023 season. The Bears started the day with a win over Coe College before falling to Illinois Wesleyan in game two.
 
Game 1: WashU 4, Coe 2
The Bears got on the board first with a run in the bottom of the first inning. Sophomore Erin Reardon singled to third and stole second. Graduate Katie Gould followed with a walk and senior Tami Wong singled up the middle to bring Reardon home and make it a 1-0 game.
 
Coe quickly tied things up in the top of the second. With two outs, Addie Menke was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a passed ball. Keera Ball then doubled to left, bringing home Menke.
 
WashU struck again in the bottom of the third inning. With one out, sophomore Natalia Pilpil singled to right and advanced to second. Wong did it again as she doubled to center to score Pilpil and put the Bears up 2-1.
 
The Bears added its final two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Junior Ashley Kennedy reached on a fielder's choice and first-year Sydney Schneider, who came on to run, stole second. Reardon hit a short ball to the catcher, scoring Schneider. Gould then singled up the middle bringing in Reardon for a 4-1 WashU lead.
 
Coe scored one final time in the top of the seventh as Bree Mangelsen homered to center.
 
Wong finished 2-for-3 with two RBI while Gould went 2-for-3 with one RBI. Reardon went 2-for-4 with two runs scored and one RBI.
 
Graduate Holly Stoner picked up the win in the circle, pitching five innings with just one hit.
 
Game 2: Illinois Wesleyan 9, WashU 7
A six-run seventh inning doomed the Bears and gave the Titans the win.
 
The Bears put up two runs in the bottom of the first inning. With two outs, sophomore Maggie Baumstark singled to right center and Wong singled through the right side. Senior Alex Rubin drilled a single to right and advanced to second on the throw, scoring both Baumstark and Wong.
 
WashU added two more runs in the bottom of the second inning with back-to-back homers from first-year Alex Hanish and junior Kayla Nommensen.
 
The Bears took a 7-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning. Baumstark led off with a walk, stole second and then advanced to third on an error. Wong singled to center to bring in Baumstark. Senior Emily Talkow, who came on to run for Wong, advanced to second on a Rubin sac bunt and moved up to third as first-year Jamie Cendana reached on an error. Junior Taylor Geluck singled to right, bringing in Talkow and Cendana for a 7-run lead.
 
IWU scored its first run of the game in the top of the fourth inning. Bailey Turner hit a lead-off double to left and scored as Maya Black also doubled to left.
 
The Titans added two more in the top of the fifth inning. Jen Kuhn hit a one-out double down the left field line and Megan Fontanetta homered down the left field line to make it a 7-3 game.
 
Illinois Wesleyan brought out its big bats in the top of the seventh to score six runs.
 
Madison Moore led off with a single up the middle and moved up on a Fontanetta single to left. Both runners stole a base to get into scoring position and score on an Ava Khoury single to right field. Turner singled up the middle and Black drew a walk to load the bases.
 
Peek doubled to center to bring in Khoury and Turner to tie things up at 7 runs apiece. Hope Yeoman drove in the go-ahead runs with a single to short, scoring Black and Peek.
 
Baumstark finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Wong went 2-for-3 with one run scored and one RBI. Alex Rubin went 1-for-2 with two RBI.
 
Sophomore Jordan Rossi took the loss in the circle, pitching one inning with six runs scored, five earned.
 
The Bears are back in action tomorrow afternoon with a 1 p.m. game against Coe and a 3 p.m. game against Illinois Wesleyan.