ST. LOUIS, MO. – Softball suffered its first loss of the season on Saturday, Feb. 21 as No. 24 Washington University in St. Louis defeated the Knights 10-2 in game one and 8-7 in game two.
Game Summary
- Game One
- First Inning
- After no hits in the top of the first for Wartburg, WashU turned five hits into three runs to go ahead 3-0 after one inning
- Second Inning
- WashU added three more runs the next inning to push the lead to 6-0 after two innings of play
- Third Inning
- Liz Kruckenberg recorded the first hit of the game for Wartburg and then stole second to put a runner in scoring position for Bella Mulder, who singled to center field to score Kruckenberg and make the score 6-1
- Fourth Inning
- The Bears got the run back in the bottom of the fourth after two singles led to a run scored to give WashU a 7-1 lead with three innings remaining
- Fifth Inning
- Kruckenberg and Reagan Hassel each singled to begin the inning, but Kruckenberg was thrown out at third base to leave just one base runner and one out
- Ally Happ was hit by a pitch to put runners on first and second base for Jenna Wiebenga, who delivered a two-out single that brought in a Wartburg run to cut the deficit to 7-2
- Four of the next five WashU batters recorded a hit to bring across three runs and end the game 10-2 after five innings of play
- Game Two
- First Inning
- Hassel led the game off with a walk that was followed by a bunt single from Happ that put runners on the corners before they executed a double steal to move Hassel home and Happ to second
- Mulder doubled to left in Wartburg's next at bat to give the Knights an early 2-0 lead
- Second Inning
- Following a three up and three down start to the game, WashU led off the bottom of the second inning with a triple that led to a run and made the score 2-1 after two innings
- Fourth Inning
- Wartburg was unable to record any hits offensively, but the Knights' defense and pitching from Katelyn Klever stranded runners across the third and fourth innings to keep the score at 2-1
- Fifth Inning
- Both Kruckenberg and Amanda Strzewski reached base by error before a triple from Hassel to the left-center field gap cleared the bases and put the Knights in front 4-1
- Happ followed up Hassel's triple with a triple of her own to score Hasel and give Wartburg a 5-1 lead headed to the bottom half of the fifth
- WashU recorded five hits in the bottom half, including three extra-base hits, to bring across five runs and take a 6-5 lead with two innings remaining
- Sixth Inning
- Both Klever and Carley Bredar singled in the sixth, but the Knights were unable to bring any runs across
- The Bears added two more runs in the sixth with a two-run RBI double that made the score 8-5 headed into the final inning
- Seventh Inning
- Happ singled and Mulder doubled to leadoff the seventh inning with runners on second and third
- Happ was scored by a groundout RBI from Wiebenga and then Hoefer singled to bring home Mulder and make it a one-run game
- WashU got the final two outs to close out an 8-7 thriller over the Knights
Top Performers
- Game One
- Game Two
- Ally Happ
- 3/4 at the plate
- Two runs scored
- RBI
- Triple
- Stolen base
- Reagan Hassel
- 1/3 at the plate
- Two RBI
- Two runs scored
- Triple
- Stolen base
- Bella Mulder
- 2/4 at the plate
- RBI
- Two doubles
- Katelyn Klever
- 3/4 at the plate
- RBI
- 5.0 IP
- Three strikeouts
Notes/Streaks
- Bredar is the only Knight to record a hit in each of the four opening games
- Happ, Mulder, Hassel, Wiebenga and Klever each have recorded four RBI this season (team high)
- Six different Knights have recorded a triple this season
- Happ, Hassel, Kruckenberg, Kiefer, Bredar and Klever
Next Time Out
The Knights will return to action on Monday, Mar. 2 to kickoff the Spring Breaks Games in Florida with games against Alvernia University and Alma College.
