LATROBE, Pa. (April 15) – Playing on its home field for the first time in three weeks, the Saint Vincent softball team split a doubleheader with Presidents' Athletic Conference foe Washington & Jefferson.
 
After falling in extra innings by a 4-3 score in the opener, the Bearcats regrouped to earn a 5-3 win in the nightcap.
 
With the split, Saint Vincent moves to 16-10 overall and 8-4 in PAC play, while the Presidents' record stands at 8-14 overall and 5-7 against league foes.
 
GAME ONE: W&J 4, Saint Vincent 3 (8 innings)
 
In game one, the Bearcats rallied from a 3-0 deficit with three runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the Presidents would pull out the victory with a run in the top of the eighth inning.
 
Shayna Perigo went 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the loss, while Haley Bicko and Nicolette Kloes each finished 2-for-3 at the dish.
 
Bicko started and worked all eight innings in the circle, allowing four runs on nine hits with three strikeouts.
 
The Presidents struck first, scoring one run on two hits and an error in the top of the first.
 
After the Bearcats went down in order in each of the first two innings, they threatened in the bottom of the third, with Bicko and Kloes leading off the frame with back-to-back singles. They would each move up 60 feet on a Kendall McConnell sacrifice bunt, but W&J pitcher Kaylee Witner escaped the jam with a popup and ground out.
 
Bicko shrugged off the first inning to retire 11 batters in a row and keep the deficit at 1-0 until the top of the sixth, when W&J's Hannah Allen hit a two-run home run to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
The Bearcats finally cracked through in the bottom of the sixth. Mackenzie Favero walked to lead off, before Jessica LaPorte and Alyssa Henderson followed with back-to-back singles, loading the bases. Perigo followed with a single to right field, bringing home LaPorte and Favero, and then Zoe Mangan's sacrifice fly to center brought home the tying run.
 
After neither team managed the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, the Presidents scratched across a single tally in the top of the eighth on Kyra Blauth's infield single.   
 
The Bearcats managed a two-out baserunner in the bottom of the eighth on a Perigo single, but she would remain stranded when the final out was recorded.
 
 
GAME TWO: Saint Vincent 5, W&J 3
 
In the nightcap, the Bearcats jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, as the SVC offense produced 12 hits to back a complete-game effort in the circle by Olivia Bushore.
 
Five different Bearcats recorded multi-hit games in the win. Kloes and LaPorte each finished 2-for-3, while Favero, LaPorte, Henderson and A.J. Arnal all went 2-for-4. Olivia Persin had an RBI double, while Lily Rush had a single and two RBIs.
 
Bushore earned the victory in the circle, scattering 12 hits without issuing a walk in her fourth complete game of the season.
 
The Bearcats opened the scoring with two outs in the bottom of the first. LaPorte and Henderson each singled and Perigo walked, before Kloes singled to center to bring home LaPorte for the early lead.
 
The hosts added on with two runs in the bottom of the second. Arnal led off with a single, before Favero slapped a single through the left side. The throw attempting to get Arnal at second base sailed into the right field corner, allowing her to score and Favero to race all the way to third base. Persin followed with a double to the fence in center field to score Favero and extend the margin to 3-0.
 
W&J answered right back in the top of the third, scoring two runs on five hits to trim the deficit to 3-2, but the Bearcats promptly countered in their half of the third. Kloes and Arnal singled to put runners at the corners, and after Arnal stole second, Rush's perfectly placed line drive single landed on the line in right field and emptied the bases to extend the lead to 5-2.
 
After the high-scoring start, the teams would then trade zeroes over the next three frames, until the Presidents threatened a comeback in the top of the seventh. With one out, W&J tallied three straight singles, before a bases-loaded fielder's choice brought home their third run of the game, and kept the bases loaded with two outs. Facing the clean-up hitter Allen, Bushore calmly induced a game-ending popup to Persin at shortstop to escape the jam and seal the win.
 
Saint Vincent will now wrap up its three-series homestand on Thursday, April 18, hosting PAC-leading Allegheny College for a big 3:30 p.m. twinbill.