ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 6 Washington University in St. Louis softball team defeated Carnegie Mellon in Saturday's doubleheader to sweep the series. The Bears are now 25-3-1 on the year with a 13-2 mark in UAA play.
Prior to the doubleheader, the Bears honored their four seniors –
Jamie Cendana, Dawson Dabbousi,
Alexa Hanish and
Sydney Schneider.
Game 1: WashU 3, Carnegie Mellon 0
The Bears scored their first run in the bottom of the third inning. With two outs, senior
Sydney Schneider singled up the middle and sophomore
Harper Nix doubled to right center, bringing in Schneider for a 1-0 lead.
WashU added another in the bottom of the fourth inning, starting with a single up the middle from junior
Elena Locascio. Grad student Dawson Dabbousi laid down a sacrifice bunt to move sophomore
Christina Smith, who came on to run for Locascio, to second.
Senior
Alexa Hanish grounded out to the pitcher to move Smith to third and senior
Jamie Cendana was hit by a pitch. Cendana stole second and Grippo singled to third, scoring Smith for a 2-0 lead.
Schneider led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a bunt single to the pitcher, beating out the throw. She stole second before Nix singled through the right side to score Schneider for the 3-0 lead.
Schneider was 2-for-3 with two runs scored while Nix was 2-for-3 with two RBI. Grippo also finished 2-for-3 with one RBI.
First-year
Jessi Szafoni earned the win in the circle, pitching a complete game with two hits and six strikeouts.
Game 2: WashU 4, Carnegie Mellon 3
The Bears scored their first run in the bottom of the second inning. Cendana was hit by a pitch to lead off and moved to second on a ground out from Hanish. Locascio singled to right field, scoring Cendana for a 1-0 lead.
In the bottom of the fourth inning, junior
Kristina Donaldson led off with a single through the right side and moved up on a sacrifice bunt from Hanish. Locascio doubled down the left line, scoring Donaldson. First-year
Julia Sullo singled up the middle, bringing home Locascio for a 3-0 lead.
The Tartans had a productive top of the seventh inning, scoring three runs to tie things up. Lindsey Murai singled through the left side and Maya Bala followed with a single to right field. Gabrielle Yamoah reached base on an error to load the bases and Maddie Lee doubled to center field, clearing the bases to make it 3-3.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, Hanish had a fitting end to senior day, driving in the game-winning run. Junior
Julia Nicholus led the inning off with a single to right field and first-year
Allie Botkin came on to run for her. Botkin moved up on a sacrifice bunt from first-year
Katie Dolin. With two outs, Hanish drilled a single to right center, scoring Botkin for the 4-3 win.
Locascio went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored while Hanish was 2-for-3 with the game-winning RBI. Donaldson was 2-for-3 with one run scored and Sullo finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Junior
Maria Brooks earned her 14
th win of the season, pitching a complete game with five hits, two earned runs and five strikeouts, including her 100
th of the season.
The Bears are home again next weekend with a non-conference doubleheader on Saturday against Central at 12 and 2 p.m. The weekend will be Alumni Weekend as well as Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day.
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