ST. LOUIS, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis softball team fell to UW-Oshkosh before beating Illinois College on Friday to advance to the regional final series on Saturday. The Bears will face UW-Oshkosh again for a chance at advancing to next weekend's Super Regional.
The win against IC marks the Bears' 30
th win of the year as they are 30-6-1.
Game 1: UW-Oshkosh 2, WashU 1
The Bears put up the first run in the bottom of the third inning for a 1-0 edge. First-year
Julia Sullo led off with a single up the middle and stole second. Senior
Sydney Schneider singled through the left side and advanced on the throw and Sullo reached third. Sullo went on to score on a wild pitch to give the Bears the lead.
It wasn't until the top of the seventh inning that UW-Oshkosh broke through to score two runs and take the lead over the Bears. Amanda Martineck led off with a hard single to the pitcher and Emma Bohn reached base on a fielder's choice, with both runners safe. Morgan Miller reached on a throwing error, scoring Autumn Freismuth, who came on to run for Martineck. Haylie Wittman singled down the left line, moving to second on the throw and scoring Bohn for a 2-1 lead.
The Bears put a runner on in the bottom of the seventh when Schneider drew a two-out walk, but she was left stranded.
Sullo finished 3-for-4 with one run scored while junior
Julia Nicholus was 1-for-2 on the day.
Junior pitcher
Maria Brooks suffered her first loss of the year in the circle, now sitting at 17-1 after pitching a complete game with three hits, one earned run and four strikeouts.
Game 2: WashU 4, Illinois College 3
After three scoreless innings, WashU put up two runs in the top of the fourth inning. Junior
Kristina Donaldson drilled a lead-off homer over the left field fence for the 1-0 lead. With one out, senior
Alexa Hanish had a ground rule double to right center and Nicholus singled through the left side to put runners on the corners. First-year
Austen Kinney grounded out to second, scoring Hanish for a 2-0 lead.
In the top of the fifth inning, Sullo was hit by a pitch to lead off and then stole second. Schneider singled to second, scoring Sullo to make it a 3-0 game.
Illinois College answered in the bottom of the fifth inning with two runs to make it a one-run game. With one out, Gabby Miller drew a walk and scored on an Alivia Darbe double down the left field line. With two outs, Brooke Loveall had a ground-rule double to left center, scoring Darbe to make it a 3-2 game.
The Lady Blues tied it up in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out, Ezzy Mauermann reached base on a throwing error and advanced to second. Shelby Seiler also reached base on a throwing error to score Mauermann for the 3-3 game.
In the top of the seventh, Donaldson blasted her second homerun of the game, putting the Bears ahead 4-3.
The Bears held on in the bottom of the seventh as Brooks struck out two of the three batters.
Donaldson was 2-for-3 with two RBI and two runs scored. Schneider went 2-for-3 with one RBI and Sullo was 1-for-3 with one run scored.
Brooks picked up her 18
th win of the year, pitching 2.2 innings of relief with one hit, one run with none earned and four strikeouts.
The Bears take on UW-Oshkosh at 11 a.m. tomorrow. If WashU wins, there will be a second game immediately following for winner-take-all.
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