The Washington University softball team made a statement at the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament in Bloomington, Ill. this weekend: “Don’t mess with us.”

The Bears won all four of their games in the six-team tournament, now riding a nine-game win streak. Senior pitcher Laurel Sagartz led the team with lights-out pitching, striking out a total of 31 on the weekend, bringing her career total to 728 and moving her to 12th on the all-time Division III list.

The Bears got off to a good start against Hope College with a 5-0 victory. Ace Sagartz struck out 17, tying her previous school record for strikeouts in a game, in her 10th shutout of the season. Sophomore Lindsay Cavarra led the team’s offense, going three for three with two RBIs and a run scored.

In Saturday’s second game against Illinois Wesleyan, Wash. U. rallied to a 2-1 victory, tallying a run in both the six and seventh innings. After starting pitcher senior Abby Morgan gave up a run on a single by Kayla Kindred in the second inning, the Bears offense was quiet until the sixth. Sophomore Lindsay Cavarra walked to lead off the inning, then pinch runner sophomore Katie Johns advanced to second on a sacrifice by Sagartz, who entered the game in the third inning in relief of Morgan. Following a groundout by junior Amy Vukovich that moved the runner to third, Johns scored on an RBI single by junior Laura D’Andrea.

Tied going into the bottom of the ninth, the Bears put together back-to-back singles to lead off the inning. A sacrifice bunt by freshman Ashton Hitchcock moved the runners over and after lead runner junior Karli Stander was thrown out at the plate on the next play, a single by Cavarra brought home freshman Carter Malouf for the winning run.

The Bears continued to dominate in Sunday’s games, defeating Maryville University 8-1 and 19th-ranked University of Chicago 12-2. Morgan was the winning pitcher against Maryville, giving up one run on seven hits in a complete game effort while striking out five. Sagartz earned the victory in the second game, throwing a five-inning complete game and striking out eight, bringing her strikeout total for the weekend to 31.

An explosive offense led the way in the second game of the day. After the University of Chicago scored one run on Sagartz in the bottom of the second, the Bears surged back with a six run third inning to take the lead. RBI hits by Hitchcock, Cavarra and Vukovich brought in the first three runs and three more scored on a home run by D’Andrea.

Another big inning came in the fifth, deciding the victory for the Bears as they scored six more runs on a grand slam by Kressel and D’Andrea’s second home run of the game, her third on the season. Kressel’s homer was her 26th in her career, and she is now tied for first on the all-time WU list.

The Bears are back in action Thursday, with a game against Illinois College at 4 p.m. at home.

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