ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis softball team swept NYU on Friday afternoon in a UAA doubleheader. The Bears won both games 8-0 in five innings to improve to 18-3-1 overall with a 6-2 mark in UAA play.
Game 1: WashU 8, NYU 0 (5 innings)
The Bears posted their first two runs in the bottom of the first inning. First-year
Julia Sullo led off with a single down the right field line before stealing second and third. Sullo scored on a ground out from senior
Sydney Schneider for the 1-0 edge.
First-year
Austen Kinney doubled to left field and moved to third on a fly out from sophomore
Harper Nix. Junior
Kristina Donaldson reached base on an error, scoring Kinney to make it a 2-0 game.
In the bottom of the third inning, Schneider singled down the right field line and advanced to second on a throwing error by the Violets' catcher. With one out, Nix doubled to left center, scoring Schneider.
Donaldson drew a walk and junior
Elena Locascio was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Senior
Alexa Hanish singled to center, scoring both Nix and Donaldson to put the Bears ahead 5-0.
Donaldson led off the bottom of the fifth with a single to short and stole second. Locascio singled to short, pushing Donaldson to third and Hanish singled down the right field line, scoring both Donaldson and Locascio.
Sophomore
Christina Smith, who came on to run for Hanish, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Junior
Kennedy Grippo drew a four-pitch walk and Sullo reached on a fielder's choice. Schneider reached on a fielder's choice to second, scoring Smith and enacting the eight-run rule to end the game early.
Hanish went 3-for-3 with four RBI. Schneider was 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run scored while Sullo was 2-for-4 with one run.
Junior
Maria Brooks earned the win in the circle to improve to 9-0, pitching a complete game with no runs, and a season-high 11 strikeouts in 18 batters faced.
Game 2: WashU 8, NYU 0 (5 innings)
WashU put up five runs in the bottom of the second inning, starting with a lead-off single to left center from first-year
Emmy May, who then stole second. With one out, Grippo singled to center and first-year
Katie Fung drew a walk to load the bases.
Sophomore
Kennedy Rushing singled between the gap of third and short, scoring May and Grippo for a 2-0 lead. First-year
Katie Dolin singled to right to load the bases again and Sullo reached on a fielder's choice. Schneider struck out swinging but reached base on a dropped third strike, scoring Rushing. Kinney singled up the middle in the next at-bat, scoring Dolin and Sullo to make it a 5-0 game for the Bears.
WashU scored its final three runs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Dolin led off with a single to second and Sullo singled up the middle. Smith bunted to third, loading the bases and Dolin scored on a sacrifice fly from Locascio for the first run of the inning. Junior
Julia Nicholus doubled to right center in the next at-bat, scoring both Sullo and Smith.
NYU had the bases loaded with two outs in the top of the fifth, but Dolin snagged a line drive at short to stop the rally and enact the eight-run rule.
Dolin was 2-for-2 with two runs scored while Kinney went 1-for-2 with two RBI. Nicholus finished 1-for-1 with two RBI and Rushing was 1-for-3 with two RBI and one run scored.
Junior
Hattie Bond picked up the win in the circle, pitching a complete game with four hits, no runs and six strikeouts to improve to 4-1 on the year.
The Bears conclude the series with NYU tomorrow with a single game at 2 p.m.
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