Washington University Softball Sweeps Hendrix, Austin to Move to 6-0

HENDRIX BOX | AUSTIN BOX

Conway, Ark., March 2, 2013 – The Washington University in St. Louis softball team remained undefeated with a pair of victories of Saturday at the Warrior Spring Fling in Conway, Ark. The Bears opened the tournament with an 8-3 win over the host Hendrix College, and followed with a 7-1 victory over Austin College in game two.

Washington U. had 12 hits in each of the two victories, and has recorded double-digit hits in five-straight games. The Bears are 6-0 for the first time since 2010 and for the fourth time in school history.

Washington U. 8, Hendrix 3
Junior Kelsey Neal (5 IP, two hits, one earned run) and freshman Annie Pitkin (2 IP, four hits) combined to allow just one earned run in the game one victory. Neal improved to 2-0 as she struck out eight while throwing 50 of 68 pitches for strikes.

An RBI single by junior Stacy Berg gave the Bears a 1-0 lead in the second, and then an RBI double by senior Sondra Polonsky in the third made it 2-0. Hendrix cut the lead in half with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but Washington U. put the game away in its next at-bat with five runs on four hits and took advantage of two Hendrix errors. Neal had an RBI single in the inning and Berg added a two-run home run to left field.

Berg was 2-for-4 with three RBIs and a run scored, while sophomore Adrienne White was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Neal (2-for-4, RBI, run scored) and freshman Brooke Hofer (2-for-3, walk) also recorded multiple-hit games.

Washington U. 7, Austin 1
The Bears broke a 1-1 tie in the fourth inning with five runs on four hits and took advantage of a key error by the Kangaroos. Junior Maggie Mullen went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and was a double shy of recording a cycle. Mullen had a two-run inside the park homerun in the decisive fourth inning.

Senior Ashley Janssen went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, while sophomore Sydney Caldwell added two hits and an RBI. The Bears left eight runners on base in the win.

Polonsky drove in a run in the Bears first at-bat to make it 1-0, but Austin answered back with a run in the bottom of the inning. The Bears broke open the game in the fourth with an RBI double by Polonsky and the two-run homerun by Mullen. Caldwell added an RBI single in the seventh to round out the scoring.

Hofer made the start allowing five hits and one earned run before giving way to freshman Amanda Kalupa, who picked up her first collegiate win in relief tossing four scoreless innings.

Washington U. concludes play in the Warrior Spring Fling Sunday, March 3, with a pair of games against Austin at 1 p.m. and Hendrix at 3 p.m.

Bear Notebook: The Bears have five players hitting .400 or better through six games played: Hofer (.571), Janssen (.480), Mullen (.450), Neal (.435) and Berg (.400) … Washington U. is hitting .370 as a team with five home runs and 49 RBIs.