ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 12 Washington University in St. Louis softball team played an exciting day of softball on Saturday, sweeping Chicago and hitting walk-off homeruns in both games.
The Bears are now 16-3-1 with a 4-2 mark in UAA play.
Game 1: WashU 12, Chicago 4 (6 innings)
WashU got the bats going right away as first-year
Julia Sullo hit a lead-off in-the-park homer to right center for a quick 1-0 lead. With one out, first-year
Austen Kinney drew a walk and went on to score on a triple from sophomore
Harper Nix to extend it to 2-0.
The Bears scored two more in the bottom of the second inning. With one out, junior
Kennedy Grippo singled to left center and first-year
Katie Dolin reached on a fielder's choice. With two outs, senior
Sydney Schneider drew a walk and Kinney singled to left center, scoring Grippo and Dolin for a 4-0 lead.
Chicago put up its first run in the top of the third. Anna Jensen led off with a single up the middle and Olivia Cataldo reached base on an error. Melana Badea was hit by a pitch to load the bases and Ashlee Boodoo, who came on to run for Jensen, scored on a sacrifice fly from Hannah Schwager.
In the bottom of the fifth inning with two outs, junior
Kristina Donaldson homered to left field, giving the Bears a 5-0 lead. Senior
Alexa Hanish followed with a double to left and first-year
Katie Fung singled to right, scoring Hanish for a 6-0 game.
The Maroons closed their deficit to two runs in the top of the sixth inning. Audrey Hui drew a lead-off walk and Matilda Nelson was hit by a pitch. Lakyn Wilkinson reached on an error to load the bases and Natalie Antin singled up the middle, scoring Hui and Leech went on to score on an error. Following a Bears' pitching change, Jensen grounded out, scoring Wilkinson, unearned, for a 6-4 game.
WashU came out to have a monster six-run inning in the bottom of the sixth, walking it off for the eight-run mercy rule. First-year
Emmy May led off with a single to center and moved forward on a sacrifice bunt from Schneider before advancing to third on a ground out from junior
Elena Locascio.
Nix drew a walk and Donaldson singled through the left side, scoring May. Hanish sent a single down the left field line, scoring Nix and Fung reached base on an error, scoring both Donaldson and Hanish to make it a 10-4 game.
In the next at-bat, Grippo blasted her first-career homerun to left center, scoring Fung and invoking the mercy rule to walk it off.
Grippo was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI. Donaldson went 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBI and Hanish was 2-for-4 with two runs and one RBI. Fung finished 1-for-3 with three RBI and one run scored.
Junior
Hattie Bond earned the win in the circle, pitching five innings with three hits, two earned runs and two strikeouts. First-year
Jessi Szafoni earned the save, coming in to pitch for one inning when the Bears were up 6-3.
Game 2: WashU 10, Chicago 2 (6 innings)
The Bears came out to score six runs in the bottom of the first inning, starting with a single up the middle from Grippo to get things going. Junior
Julia Nicholus put down a bunt single to the pitcher and Kinney singled through the left side, scoring Grippo for the first run of the game.
Kinney stole second and Nix singled through the right side, scoring Nicholus. Nix stole second and Donaldson followed with a double down the left line, scoring Kinney.
May singled through the right side, scoring Nix. Donaldson stole home on the next play while May stole second. Locascio flew out to right, advancing May to third and senior
Jamie Cendana singled up the middle, scoring May for the 6-0 advantage.
Chicago put up two runs in the top of the third inning. Wilkinson singled to right center and Sedona Ding singled to third. Madeline Murphy laid down a sacrifice bunt to put two runners in scoring position. With two outs, Matilda Nelson singled to center, scoring both Wilkinson and Ding for a 6-2 game.
May drew a lead-off walk to start the bottom of the third inning and went on to steal second. Cendana drew another walk and with two outs, Grippo laid down a bunt single to load the bases. Nicholus singled to short, driving in May for a 7-2 lead.
The Bears put on another show in the bottom of the sixth inning, starting with a lead-off triple from Sullo. Schneider singled through the left side, scoring Sullo. With one out, first-year
Olivia Lauber drilled a two-run homer to left, putting the eight-run mercy rule into effect and walking it off.
Nicholus finished 2-for-3 with one run and one RBI while Grippo was 2-for-4 with one run scored. Lauber finished 1-for-1 with two RBI and one run scored.
First-year
Ava Peterson picked up the win in the circle, pitching three innings with five hits, two runs and a strikeout.
The Bears are home again next weekend with a series against NYU. WashU will play one game on Friday at 3 p.m. and wrap up with a double-header at 12 and 2 p.m. on Saturday which will feature a children's egg hunt.
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Elevating scholar-champions requires resources beyond the institutional budget. Through the W Club, generous alumni, parents, and friends provide unrestricted support that is essential to the extraordinary WashU student-athlete experience—and the ongoing growth and development of the department. Annual support for Athletics allows the Bears to consistently rise to national levels of competition and ensures that our student-athletes enjoy exceptional opportunities as they train, compete, and lead. To make a gift to the Annual Fund for Athletics, please visit our secure online giving form or contact the Athletics Advancement Office at athletics@wustl.edu.
