Eash Hits Three Home Runs in Victory Over Webster

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St. Louis, Mo., April 26, 2008 – Senior Kaylyn Eash was 3-for-4 with three home runs and seven RBI as the No. 14 Washington University softball team overcame an 8-3 deficit for a 16-8 win against Webster University on Saturday in the second game held on the campus of Maryville University. In the first game of the day, Maryville scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh for a 2-1 victory over Washington U.

Eash, who tied the single-game school record with the three home runs, also pitched 4 1/3 innings of relief picking up the win. She allowed four hits and zero earned runs en route to her fourth win of the season.

An unearned run in the first inning, and then RBI singles from sophomores Carter Malouf and Ashton Hitchcock in the third pushed the WU lead to 3-0. Webster (20-13) answered with five runs in the bottom of the third, highlighted by Kelsey Washam’s grand slam. Three errors in the fourth led to three unearned runs, pushing Webster’s lead 8-3.

WU returned the favor in the top of the fifth inning, scoring eight runs on four hits, and capitalizing on two errors by Webster. Sophomore Caitlyn Hoffman’s RBI single trimmed the lead to 8-4, and then Eash tied the game with a grand slam. The Bears were not done yet, as junior Lindsay Cavarra drove in two with a double to right center, and then Malouf followed with an RBI double pushing the lead to 11-8.

Eash drove in two more with her eighth home run of the year in the fifth, and then Cavarra added an RBI groundout extending the lead to 14-8. Washington U. added two more runs in the seventh, as Hoffman and Eash delivered back-to-back home runs.

Sophomore Megan Fieser, Hitchcock, Hoffman and Malouf each had two hits for the Bears, which pounded out 15 hits in the victory. Freshman Claire Voris made the start for the Bears, allowing three earned runs in 2 2/3 innings pitched.

Eash and Maryville’s Erin Clark were locked up in a pitcher’s dual in the first game. After a scoreless first four innings, Washington U. scored first in the top of the fifth after junior Kerry Kreitman was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Eash pitched 4 1/3 innings allowing six hits before giving way to Voris.

Voris cruised into the seventh allowing just one hit before Maryville mounted the comeback. After getting the first two Saints’ batters out in the bottom of the seventh, Alana Weissmueller kept MU alive with a double. Jessica Stuart followed with a walk, and then a passed ball by Cavarra allowed the runners to advance a base.

Weissmueller scored on an error by senior Laura D’Andrea, and then Katie Brockmeyer singled to drive in the game-winning run. Voris took the loss allowing three hits and two runs, both unearned, in 2 1/3 innings pitched. Malouf went 3-for-3, as Washington U. was limited to five hits. The Bears also committed three errors in the loss.

Washington University (23-10) hosts Greenville College in a doubleheader on Tuesday, April 29. Game one is set to begin at 4 p.m. at the WU Softball Field.