After continually blanking opponents game after game, the dominant Washington University softball team was finally rewarded with a No. 1 ranking in the national polls. When the Division III National FastpitchÿCoaches Association (NFCA) Division III Top-25 poll was released on Wednesday, Wash U was looking up at no one. The Bears received six of the possible eight first place votes and, for the first time in school history, owned the top seed. The Bears are now an incredible 33-1 on the season, already tying the school record for wins, with still nine games left to play in the regular season. The girls have rolled off 17 consecutive victories, and have not lost a game since March 20.

At 33-1, the Bears’ record speaks for itself, but if possible, their accomplishments have been even more impressive then their record indicates. The team has gone 13 consecutive games and a total of 81 1/3 consecutive innings without giving up an earned run. In addition, prior to Sunday’s second game of a doubleheader against Blackburn College, the team had not given up any sort of run in nine straight games. Nine consecutive shutouts.

Pitchers sophomore Laurel Sagartz and senior Victoria Ramsey have been brilliant over the season: Sagartz is 15-1 with a 0.76 ERA and 127 strikeouts, and Ramsey is 11-0 with a 0.30 ERA and 57 strikeouts. Sagartz was named the UAA Player of the Week last week and continues to be a dominant force on the mound. As a sophomore, Sagartz has already been named UAA Most Valuable Player twice, and has two more outstanding years ahead of her. Ramsey recently added an impressive accomplishment of her own, becoming the University’s all-time leader in wins, with 47.

While the incredible pitching has stolen the headlines, the Bears offensive production has not been lacking either. Over the past ten games, the Bears have outscored their opponents by at least eight runs before the final seventh inning, meaning the team does not even have to play the complete game, the NCAA’s version of the age-old “mercy rule”. They have outscored their opponents by a margin of 248-29 this season, and 64-2 over their last ten games. The team has a batting average of .356 and has slugged a total of 20 home runs this season.

The Bears’ offensive is led by senior Liz Swary, who owns a .460 batting average with 22 extra base hits, including five home runs and 44 runs batted in. It is the fourth consecutive year she has hit at least five home runs, and she has also earned Player of the Week honors this season. Freshman Amy Vukovich leads the team with a .474 batting average and junior Monica Hanono has been brilliant as well, batting .438 with three HR’s and 30 RBI, including a game-winning homer on Saturday afternoon. In total, eight players have batting averages over .300, and the team owns an incredible .423 on base percentage.

Last Sunday, the squad recorded a doubleheader sweep at Blackburn College, where they improved their season record to 33-1 after notching a 9-0 victory in six innings in game one and a 12-2 win in five innings in the second game.

In game one, Ramsey allowed only three hits in five innings of work as she secured her place as the Bears’ all-time wins leader. The Bears’ offensive matched Ramsey’s dominance as the squad scored 12 runs on nine hits. Vukovich helped in the effort with a 3-for-4 performance, while knocking in an RBI and scoring a run. Sagartz, starting at first base this game, added two RBIs and a run in her 2-for-3 day performance.

Game two’s 12-2 rout highlighted more offensive dominance as Swary went 2-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored and catcher Erin Wolf, a sophomore, went 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI. Abby Morgan pitched a complete game, allowing seven walks and giving up two unearned runs.

This weekend the team will head to Bloomington, Illinois for the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament, where they will be taking on Coe College and Illinois Wesleyan University on Saturday and Benedictine University and University of Chicago on Sunday.

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