Arden Hills, Minn. – The Washington University in St. Louis softball team concluded its season with two losses on Sunday afternoon in the St. Paul Regional. The Bears fell to No. 12 Bethel 4-3 in game one which forced the if-necessary game, which Bethel won 6-5.
WashU ends its season with a 32-12 mark.
Game 1: Bethel 4, WashU 3
It was a 15-inning battle between the Bears and Royals.
Bethel got on the board first, putting up a run in the bottom of the first inning. Lexi DeBace bunted, stole second and scored on a Kayla Hokanson single to center field.
After several scoreless innings, the Bears pulled ahead, scoring two in the bottom of the fourth inning.
Erin Reardon singled to the catcher and moved forward on an Ashley Kennedy single to right. Kirsten Drabek laid down a sac bunt to move the runners forward and Nicole Hay drove in Reardon and Emily Talkow, who was running for Kennedy, with a double to right center.
WashU added another run in the bottom of the fifth inning to take a 3-1 edge.
Maggie Baumstark singled to left field and Natalia Pilpil hit a two-out single down the third baseline. Reardon singled to short, bringing in Baumstark.
Bethel rallied in the top of the sixth inning to tie things up and ultimately force extra innings.
Allie Fauth led off with a double to center and DeBase bunted and beat out the throw before stealing second. Mikaela Girard drove in the first run of the inning with a bunt to score Fauth and DeBace scored on a Hokanson single to right field.
Although both teams had plenty of scoring opportunities throughout the rest of the game, it was not until the top of the 15th inning that the Royals scored to take the one-run lead.
Izzy Wilhelm singled to single base and Fauth singled to third. DeBace sent a single to the pitcher to load the bases and a sac fly from Girard brought in Willhelm for what was ultimately the winning run to force the if-necessary game.
Hay finished 2-for-6 with two RBI while Reardon went 3-for-7 with one RBI and one run scored. Baumstark was 2-for-7 with one run scored.
Madison Denton took the loss in the circle, coming on to pitch four innings of release, allowing three hits one earned run. Jamie Burgasser got the start, pitching 11 innings with 11 hits, three earned runs and six strikeouts.
Game 2: Bethel 6, WashU 5
The Bears bounced back from the 15-inning loss to score first in the second game of the day.
Baumstark singled to left and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Pilpil drilled a double to left field to bring in Baumstark for the 1-0 edge.
Bethel, however, tied things up in the bottom of the inning.
Fauth hit a lead-off single to third and then stole second. DeBace laid down a sac bunt to move Fauth ahead and she scored on a Hokanson single up the middle.
After the Bears left two runners on base in the top of the second, Bethel took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the inning. Jamie Axelberg led off with a double to left center and Angela Dabu moved her to third with a sac bunt. Wilhelm drove in Axelberg with a sac fly to right center, giving the Royals the one-run lead.
Bethel put up another run, taking a 3-1 lead, in the bottom of the fifth inning. With two outs, Fauth singled to left field and then stole second. DeBace followed with a single to left, bringing in Fauth.
The Bears rallied in the top of the sixth inning to score four runs and take a 5-3 lead.
Wong led off with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a single from Reardon, who then stole second. Wong went on to score on a single to right from Kennedy. Both Reardon and Kennedy scored on a double down the left field line from Kirsten Drabek. Drabek then scored as first-year Olivia Craycraft doubled to left field.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Royals cut the Bears' lead to 5-4. Hokanson reached base on a throwing error. Hailey Rismeyer came into run for Hokanson and moved ahead to third on an Autumn Earney grounder. Cortney Hokanson singled through the right side, scoring Rismeyer and making it a one-run game.
Bethel ultimately won it in the bottom of the seventh inning with a walk-off.
Wilhelm singled to left field to lead things off and moved ahead a base on a Fauth sac bunt. DeBace reached on a fielder's choice and Wilhelm was thrown out at second. Girard drew a walk and DeBace went on to score on a Hokanson single down the left field line. Earney hit the walk-off single to right center to score J Rudolph, who was running for Girard.
Drabek went 2-for-3 with two RBI and one run score while Pilpil finished 2-for-4 with one RBI.
Denton took the loss in the circle, pitching five innings of relief with eight hits and three earned runs. Holly Stoner pitched 1.2 innings after starting the game, allowing five hits and two earned runs.
St. Paul Regional All-Tournament Team
Eden Ambrose - Bethany Lutheran
Carlee Guyett - Buena Vista
Ashytn Miller - Buena Vista
Katie Gould - WashU
Nicole Hay - WashU
Tami Wong - WashU
Kayla Hokanson - Bethel
Lexi DeBace - Bethel
Autumn Earney - Bethel
Kayla Simacek - Bethel - Most Outstanding Player