From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis softball team had its offensive come alive on Sunday scoring 18 runs on 24 hits in a doubleheader sweep at Monmouth College (Ill.).
WashU recorded a 7-1 win in game one, and then held on for an 11-7 victory in the nightcap.
Senior Janet Taylor went 4-for-8 with a walk, two runs scored, a homerun and five RBIs in the sweep, while senior Hannah Mehrle went 5-for-8 with four runs scored and two RBIs.
WashU 7, Monmouth 1 – Game One
Juniors Anna McKee (4IP, five hits, one earned run) and Maggie Clapp (3IP, one hit) combined to allow just three hits in game one. McKee (3-1) picked up the win exiting in the fifth with the based loaded, while Clapp picked up her second career save.
Taylor drove in a run with an RBI in the first, and then the Bears scored three in the third to push the lead to 4-0. Junior Hera Tang ripped a single off the third-base bag that drove in two runs in the fourth. Taylor added an RBI single in the fifth and sophomore Taylor Arends delivered an RBI single in the sixth.
Taylor was 3-for-3 with a walk, run scored and two RBIs, while Mehrle was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI. The Bears had 10 hits in game one.
WashU 11, Monmouth 7 – Game Two
The Bears scored four runs on four hits and took advantage of two errors in its first at-bat in game two. Tang drove in a run with an RBI single, and then sophomore Josi Elder doubled down the left field line to push across a run.
WashU's lead grew to 6-1 after the second inning following an RBI single by freshman Mikaela Arredondo and a sacrifice fly by Tang. Taylor's first homerun of the season and 10th of her career in the fourth pushed the lead to 8-1.
Mehrle drove in with a run with single in the fifth, but Monmouth (6-6) stayed alive scoring four runs on four hits in the bottom half of the inning. The Bears scored a run in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings to seal the victory.
Clapp (4-3) tossed a complete game allowing 12 hits on and seven runs (five earned). She struck out four and walked one in the win.
Mehrle went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and an RBI, while senior Kenzie James (2-for-3, run scored), Arredondo (2-for-5, run scored, RBI) and freshman Amy Walsh (2-for-4, two runs scored) also had multi-hit games.
WashU (8-4) hosts the five-team WashU Invitational on Friday-Sunday, March 24-26, at the WU Softball Field. The Bears take on No. 12 Coe (13-1) Friday at 4:45 p.m. in the opener.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Monmouth, 10-4 … The Bears have recorded 10 or more hits in five of the last seven games … Mehrle moved into fourth place all-time in hits (192), and is eight shy of 200 … Taylor upped her career RBI total to 109, ninth most in school history.