From Washington University Athletics
The No. 6-ranked Washington University in St. Louis softball team battled through extreme wind conditions to garner a split at No. 20 Central College (Iowa) Saturday in Pella, Iowa.
WashU posted a 9-2 win in game one, and then suffered a 4-3 loss on a walk-off wild pitch in game two.
The Bears are 21-7 with the split, while Central is 13-7.
Freshman Taylor Arends went 5-for-8 in the doubleheader with four RBIs and two runs scored. Arends is now tied for the team lead with 28 RBIs.
#6 WashU 9, #20 Central (Iowa) 2 – Game 1
WashU started quickly in game one scoring three runs on three hits in its first at-bat. The Bears loaded the bases and then pushed across two runs on a single to right by Arends. Junior Janet Taylor then stole home to make it 3-0.
The Bears pushed the lead to 6-0 scoring three more runs in the second on RBIs from Arends, senior Brooke Hofer and sophomore Maggie Clapp.
Central scored a run in the second in the third to trim the lead to 6-2, but WashU scored three more runs in the fourth to make it 9-2. Hofer had a two-RBI single and Arends added an RBI single.
Arends went 4-for-5 with a career-high four RBIs, while Hofer was 1-for-4 with three RBIs. Taylor was 2-for-2 and was on base all five times. The Bears had 13 hits, all singles, and left 12 runners on base.
Senior pitcher Annie Pitkin (13-3) tossed a complete game allowing 10 hits and two earned runs. Pitkin struck out 12 to increase her career total to 694.
#20 Central (Iowa) 4, #6 WashU 3 – Game 2
The Bears jumped in front 2-0 with a pair of runs in the second. Arends led off the inning with a single, and then scored on a groundout by junior Halle Steinberg. WashU pushed across another run with an RBI single by sophomore Hera Tang.
Central took advantage of a pair of errors to score three unearned runs off Clapp in the second to take the 3-2 lead.
Taylor tied the game at 3-3 in the sixth with a homerun to left into the 20 mile per hour wind. The homerun for Taylor was her third of the season and seventh of her career.
Clapp walked the leadoff hitter in the seventh, and then gave up a single. The Bears went back to Pitkin in the circle, and she gave up a single to right to load the bases with no outs. Pitkin allowed the game-winning run to score on a wild pitch to end the game.
Clapp (6-4) took the loss despite allowing six hits and four runs (one earned). Tang was 2-for-2 with an RBI as WashU was limited to five hits.
WashU continues play in the Central Invitational Sunday with a pair of contests against the University of Dubuque at Noon and Buena Vista University at 2 p.m. The games will be played at Lacey Park in Oskaloosa, Iowa.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: Freshman Alexa Mendel recorded the first hit of her career in game one … Taylor extended her hitting streak to 15 and has reached base in 21-straight contests … Taylor also moved into ninth in school history in walks (45) … The Bears are 1-5 against ranked teams … Senior Brooke Hofer played in her 166th game, 10th most in school history.