From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis softball team swept Emory on Saturday afternoon to take a 3-0 series lead. The Bears are now 16-15 overall with an 8-7 conference mark.
Game 1: WashU 11, Emory 5
The Bears got on the board in the top of the first inning, starting with a Katie Gould single. With two outs, Payton Irwin doubled to right, scoring Gould for a 1-0 edge.
Emory answered with four runs in the bottom of the first. Ashley Chu drew a walk and stole second. Page Nellis drew another walk and Tyler Miller bunted to third to load the bases. Ella Hoyle was hit by a pitch, scoring Chu. Natalie Swift drew a walk to score Nellis and prompt a WashU pitching change. Isabel Cohen reached first on a throwing error, scoring both Miller and Hoyle for a 4-1 lead.
WashU exploded for six runs in the top of the second inning. Erin Reardon led off with a single to right and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Tami Wong singled through the right side and both runners scored on an Ashley Kennedy double to right center. With two outs, Gould singled up the middle, scoring Kennedy.
Maggie Baumstark drew a walk and Natalia Pilpil singled to short, scoring Gould. Irwin reached base on a fielding error by first base, scoring Baumstark to give the Bears a 7-4 lead.
The Bears added another run in the top of the fourth inning. Baumstark was hit by a pitch to lead off and stole second. Pilpil singled to third and Irwin followed with a single to right field. Reardon reached on a fielder's choice play and Wong drove in Irwin with a single to left field to make it an 8-4 game.
WashU put up another two in the top of the sixth. Pilpil was hit by a pitch to lead off and Irwin singled through the left side. With two outs, Wong sinlged to center, scoring Alex Rubin who was on to run for Pilpil. Kennedy then drove in Wong with a single up the middle to put WashU up 10-4.
Jamie Cendana got things going in the top of the seventh with a one-out single through the left side and moved up a base on a Gould grounder before stealing third. Baumstark drew a walk and Cendana went on to steal home for an 11-4 Bears' lead.
Emory scored one final run in the bottom of the seventh. Miller hit a lead-off double to right and Hoyle singled to center to score. The Bears ended things with a double play to take the win.
Irwin finished 3-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored while Wong went 3-for-4 with two RBI and two runs scored. Gould went 3-for-5 with two runs and one RBI while Pilpil finished 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run scored. Kennedy was 2-for-4 with three RBI and one run scored.
Jordan Rossi picked up the win in the circle, going seven innings with one earned run and six strikeouts to improve to 6-3 on the year.
Game 2: WashU 12, Emory 1 (5 innings)
The Bears put up three runs in the top of the first inning. Gould led off with a triple to right and scored as Pilpil reached on a fielding error. Irwin singled to left and both runners moved up on a Reardon ground out. Wong doubled to center, scoring both Pilpil and Irwin for the 3-0 lead.
Emory scored a run in the bottom of the second. Chu hit a one-out single to short and Kayla Lang reached on a fielding error. Mackenzie Duford singled through the left side to load the bases and Chu went on to score on a Cohen fielder's choice play.
The Bears scored three runs in the top of the third inning. Baumstark led off with a single to center and advanced on a wild pitch. Pilpil doubled to right center, scoring Baumstark for the first run of the inning. Reardon was hit by a pitch and Wong singled up the middle, scoring Pilpil and Reardon for a 6-1 edge.
WashU exploded for another six runs in the top of the fourth inning. Craycraft led off with a triple to right field and scored on a Gould single to third. Baumstark singled to left field and stole second. Irwin drew a walk and Wong doubled down the left field line to drive in Gould Baumstark and Pilpil. Kennedy doubled to right center, scoring Wong, and Alexa Hanish doubled to center to score Kayla Nommensen, who came in to run for Kennedy, making it a 12-1 game.
Wong went 3-for-3 with six RBI and one run scored while Baumstark finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Gould went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and one RBI while Irwin finished 1-for-2 with two runs scored.
Jamie Burgasser picked up her fourth win of the year with a complete game, allowing one earned run and four hits and striking out two.