ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 25 Washington University in St. Louis softball team split a doubleheader with No. 8 Case Western Reserve University on Saturday afternoon to take the series 2-1. The Bears are 15-5 on the year with a 2-1 mark in conference play.

Game 1: CWRU 4, WashU 1 The Spartans put up their first run in the top of the third inning. Karen Potts hit a one-out double to right-center and advanced to third on an Elizabeth Berry grounder to second. KaiLi Gross singled to left-center, scoring Potts for a 1-0 lead.

CWRU added three more runs in the top of the seventh inning. Alaina Steffes hit a one-out single through the left side and stole second. Potts drew a walk, and Gross singled through the left side to score Durham for the first run of the inning. Gross stole second, and both Potts and Gross went on to score on a single to left-center from Bella Russo.

The Bears scored their lone run in the bottom of the seventh inning. First-year Harper Nix led off with a single down the right field line, and Christina Smith, who came on to run for Nix, stole second. Senior Maggie Baumstark singled to left, putting runners on the corners, and Smith stole home on a double-steal for a 4-1 game.

Senior Natalia Pilpil went 3-for-4 on the day. Senior Taylor Geluck and Nix both went 1-for-3, and Baumstark was 1-for-1 with two walks.

Senior Jamie Burgasser took her first loss in the circle with a 7-1 record, pitching 4.2 innings with seven hits, one run, and one strikeout.

Game 2: WashU 3, CWRU 2 Following a defensive triple play in the top of the inning, the Bears scored in the bottom of the fourth inning, starting with a lead-off single through the left side from sophomore Kennedy Grippo. Sophomore Julia Nicholus put down a sacrifice bunt to move Grippo ahead, and Nix drove her in for a 1-0 lead.

CWRU came out to score two runs in the top of the fifth inning. With one out, Kate Coonan singled to right field, and Nylah Durham reached base on a throwing error and advanced to second, putting two runners in scoring position. Potts drew a walk, and Berry reached base on a fielder's choice. All runners advanced on a wild pitch, with Durham and Potts both scoring for a 2-1 lead.

The Bears went on to win the game in exciting fashion in the bottom of the seventh inning. Baumstark led off with a double to center, and senior Erin Reardon put down a bunt single to third and beat out the throw, putting Baumstark on third. Reardon stole second, and Pilpil reached on a fielder's choice, but Baumstark beat out the throw at home to tie the game 2-2. In the next at-bat, Geluck hit a sacrifice flyout to center field, and Reardon tagged up to score the winning run.

Grippo finished 3-for-3 with one run scored. Pilpil went 1-for-3 with one RBI, and Nix finished 1-for-2 with one RBI.

Sophomore Maria Brooks earned the win in the circle, pitching a complete game with four hits, no earned runs, and two strikeouts.

The Bears hit the road for the next two weekends, starting with a UAA series at Chicago next weekend. Games are slated for Friday at 3 p.m. and Saturday at 12/2 p.m. The following weekend, WashU heads to NYU for a trio of games on Friday at 3 p.m. ET and Saturday at 12/2 p.m. ET. The Bears will be home again for a series against Brandeis April 18-19.