Box Score St. Louis, Mo. – The No. 12 Transylvania softball team secured its first doubleheader sweep of the season with a pair of towering wins over the Washington University in St. Louis Bears at Westhill Fields.
The Pioneers collected a 15-3 win over the annually-acclaimed Wash U. program and took care of matters in the nightcap, 11-6, to solidify a 3-0 start to the season in their first journey away from the Bluegrass in the 2021 season.
The Bears endured their season-opening losses to the Pioneers to start 0-2 in their 2021 campaign.
The Pioneers plated at least three runs in four of five innings to storm to a 15-3 five-inning victory over the Bears in the afternoon opener.
Abby Frazier and Allyson O'Dell led a furious charge of firepower in Game 1, combining to go 6 for 6 from the plate as part of 14 total hits in the game.
Kameron Bowling picked up the win in the opener, racking up five strikeouts and allowing two hits and only one earned run in 3.2 innings of work.
Transylvania wasted no time in seizing control of the game by clinching a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning and a 9-0 stranglehold on the contest after its first two frames. The first five Transylvania batters of the day all reached base while Annie Schuck drove in two with a first-inning triple. Taylor Stamps, O'Dell, and Carson Murray all delivered RBIs in the first inning to power the Pioneers ahead by five runs.
The second inning featured another tsunami of scoring as Frazier led off with a single, Becca Messing drew a walk, and Schuck collected her third RBI in two innings with a base hit to right field that scored Frazier for a 6-0 Pioneer lead.
The fury continued as Stamps and O'Dell followed with back-to-back walks against a newly inserted Bears reliever. O'Dell's walk occurred with the bases loaded for the second run of the inning, setting up a two-run double by Murray to complete the potent second inning.
The Pioneers tabulated three more runs in both the third and fifth innings to provide an indulgent outburst en route to their second straight game of 15 runs to start the season.
Schuck was 2 for 4 with a game-high four RBI while O'Dell filled the stat sheet with two RBI, one triple, one double, and one walk.
The Pioneers batted second in game two and lit up the scoreboard once again in the first inning to answer an early lone run by the Bears, ensuring the lead for the rest of the night.
After Wash U. climbed ahead 1-0 in the top half of the first, Stamps drove home Lexi Childers to tie the game at 1-1. Schuck later drove in Stamps and O'Dell in the inning on a shot up the middle to give the Pioneers a 3-1 advantage.
The Stamps-Childers tandem worked together again in the bottom of the third as Stamps sent home Childers on an RBI to lift the Pioneers to a 4-1 lead.
Bowling made a second consecutive start on Friday and struck out three straight hitters in the top of the fourth inning to hold the Bears at bay. The Transylvania offense tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the inning to grow its lead to 7-1.
Wash U. had its most potent inning in the top of the fifth with a four-run output that retired Bowling but reliever Carlee Jeter quickly registered two outs against the Wash U. threat to conclude the inning and maintain a two-run lead for the Pioneers.
Transy rebuilt its lead with an RBI triple from Messing in the bottom of the fifth to raise the advantage to 8-5 in favor of the Pioneers. O'Dell signed off on a magnificent evening with a two-run double to highlight a three-run sixth inning.
Stamps went 3-for-4 in the second game with two doubles and four runs batted in. Childers, Alyssa Nunn, and Schuck each had two hits.
The Pioneers are scheduled to face off with the Webster University Gorloks on Saturday, March 6 with first pitch scheduled for 12 noon Eastern time and 11 a.m. local time from St. Louis.
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