Softball Splits Pair of Games at St. Louis Invitational
BOX 1 | BOX 2
St. Louis, Mo., March 24, 2012 – The Washington University in St. Louis softball team split a pair of games on the opening day of the St. Louis Invitational on Saturday. Washington U. dropped a 3-2 decision in eight innings to Augustana College (Ill.) in the opener, and then posted a 10-1 win in five innings over Concordia University (Ill.) in game two.
Sophomore Maggie Mullen went 6-for-7 with a homerun, a double and an RBI in the two games. Mullen extended her hitting streak to seven games and upped her batting average to .442.
Augustana (Ill.) 3, Washington U. 2 (eight innings)
Augustana (9-2) pushed across a run in the bottom of the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie. Laura Behnke drove in the game-winning run with a sac fly to left field scoring Sarah Hintz, who was placed on second base to start the inning due to the international tiebreaker rule. Hintz (7-0) allowed six hits and two earned runs in a complete-game victory.
Senior Olivia Cook (4-3) took the loss on the mound for Washington University allowing three hits and two earned runs in 7 2/3 innings pitched. Washington U. managed just six hits in the defeat. Mullen was 3-for-4 with a homerun, while junior Ashley Janssen added two hits.
Washington U. struck first in the second inning after Mullen led off with a solo homerun to centerfield. The round tripper for Mullen was her fourth of the year and 13th of her career, tied for ninth most in school history. An RBI double by Augustana’s Courtney Ledezma tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth.
The Bears regained the lead with a two-out rally in the top of the fifth. Freshman Alyssa Wilson tripled down the right field line, and then Janssen followed with a RBI single down the left field line. Augie tied it up with a run in the bottom of the sixth after a two-out RBI single by Watson.
Washington U. 10, Concordia (Ill.) 1 (five innings)
The Bears scored three runs on four hits in the first inning against Concordia. Senior Alyssa Abramoski, freshman Adrienne White and junior Sondra Polonsky all had RBIs in the opening at-bat. An RBI by sophomore Stacy Berg pushed the lead to 5-0 as Washington U. added two more runs in the third inning.
The Bears put the game out of reach with five runs in the top of the fourth inning on five hits and took advantage of an error by Concordia. Abramoski drove in a run with an RBI double, and Polonsky and sophomore Kelsey Neal added RBI singles in the inning.
Neal (5-2) picked up the win on the mound allowing three hits and an earned run in five innings pitched. Washington U. collected 12 hits in the victory, its ninth game this season with double-figure hits. Mullen was 3-for-3 with two runs scored, while Polonsky (2-for-3, two RBIs, two runs scored), Abramoski (2-for-3, two RBIs, run scored) and Janssen (2-for-4, two runs scored) added two hits apiece.
Washington University (11-6) concludes play in the St. Louis Invitational with a pair of games on Sunday, March 25, against Augustana at Noon and Concordia at 2 p.m.