From Washington University Athletics
The No. 2-ranked Washington University in St. Louis softball team overcame a six-run deficit to defeat New York University 9-8 in the second game of the day at the 2016 University Athletic Association (UAA) Championship Tournament Friday in Altamonte Springs, Fla.
The Bears had 12 hits in a 6-3 win over Brandeis University in game one.
WashU (13-2, 5-2 UAA) remains in second place in the UAA standings, two games behind No. 4-ranked Emory University (18-1, 7-0 UAA). The Bears continue play in the 2016 UAA Championship Tournament on Saturday, March 12, against Emory at 10 a.m. (ET) and University of Rochester at 1 p.m.
#2 WashU 6, Brandeis 3
WashU started quickly in its first at-bat after freshman Taylor Arends drove in a pair of runs with an RBI double to left center. The Bears pushed the advantage to 3-0 on an RBI by junior Hannah Mehrle in the second.
Pitkin struck out six of the first nine batters she faced and did not allow a base runner in the first three innings. In the bottom of the third, junior Halle Steinberg drove in a run with a sacrifice fly that made it 4-0.
Brandeis pushed across a run in the fourth, but WashU answered right back with a pair of runs on RBIs by Mehrle and junior Janet Taylor to make it 6-1.
Arends was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, while Mehrle (2-for-4, two RBIs), senior Brooke Hofer (2-for-4) and sophomore Hera Tang (2-for-3, run scored) also had two hits.
Pitkin (8-1) tossed a complete game allowing four hits and three earned runs with nine strikeouts. Brandeis dropped its second-straight game and fell to 5-6, 3-3 in the UAA.
#2 WashU 9, New York 8
Trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the seventh, Hofer walked to lead off the inning. She advanced to second on a wild pitch and then moved to third on a groundout. Steinberg singled to left on the ensuing pitch to drive in sophomore pinch-runner Ashley Madsen to tie the game.
Steinberg moved to second on a groundout, and then came around to score after a throw on an infield single by junior Kenzie James sailed into right field.
Steinberg was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI, and was removed in the top of the sixth after a collision at home. She would return to the the lineup and recorded a hit in both the sixth and seventh innings during the come-from-behind win.
Arends (2-for-4, two runs scored, RBI), James (2-for-4, run scored), Hofer (2-for-3, walk, RBI) and McKee (2-for-4, run scored, RBI) all had multi-hit games for WashU. The Bears recorded 14 hits in the win.
New York (4-7, 3-4 UAA) belted three homeruns off sophomore Mackenzie Gauden to built a 6-0 lead after four innings. Molly Weber hit a three-run homerun to left with two outs in the third, and then Carina Sturm and Diana King went back-to back in the fourth.
The Bears finally got on the scoreboard scoring two runs on four hits in the bottom of the fourth. McKee and freshman Josi Elder drove in runs with RBIs down the left field line to trim the lead to 6-2.
WashU continued to chip away and got the lead down to one (6-5) after scoring three runs on four hits in the fifth. Arends and McKee drove in a pair of runs with an RBI double.
After NYU scored an unearned run in the sixth, WashU answered right back to score two runs on three hits to tie the game at 7-7. Taylor tied the game with a sharply hit ball off the second baseman that scored Steinberg and Tang.
Sophomore Maggie Clapp (4-1) was exceptional out of the bullpen allowing four hits and two unearned runs in 3 1/3 innings pitched. Gauden got the start allowing six hits and six earned runs in 3 2/3 innings.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU is 103-34 (.752) all-time at the UAA Championship … Mehrle has hit safely in all 15 games this season … The Bears have recorded double-digit hits in 11 of 15 games played … Head coach Leticia Pineda-Boutté picked up career win number 350 … WashU has committed seven errors in seven UAA games and leads the tournament in fielding percentage (.963) … The Bears also lead the six-team field in batting average (.343) … Mehrle leads the UAA Championship in batting average (.542), hits (13), runs scored (nine) and total bases (23).