By posting four consecutive shutouts, the No. 15 Washington University softball team came away with four convincing wins this weekend. Highlighted by two complete-game performances from junior starting pitcher Annie Pitkin, it was the first time since 2008 that the Bears registered four straight shutouts.

Stephen Huber | Student Life

Freshman Mackenzie Gauden pitches in the Bears’ game against Millikin College on Saturday afternoon. Gauden had six strikeouts in her five innings pitched.

On Friday, the Bears (29-9 record) went on the road and dominated Westminster (12-19) by scores of 10-0 and 13-0, respectively, before cruising to two 4-0 victories against Millikin (13-19) at home on Saturday.

A week after losing two games in a row for the first time all season at Illinois Wesleyan University, the Bears endured through a couple of grueling practices that prepared the team for this weekend’s stretch of games.

“The message was pretty clear that we’ve got to step up. We kind of got our butts kicked a little bit [in practice] with conditioning and stuff, but I think we certainly rallied around it and turned things around,” Pitkin said. “We showed up this weekend and the hard work definitely paid off.”

Facing off against Millikin, Pitkin fired her 500th career strikeout and tossed seven shutout innings en route to earning her 18th victory of the season.

Offensively, the Bears started out quickly in the first inning. After senior Adrienne White hit an RBI single, sophomore Janet Taylor belted a towering two-run homer to left field as the Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead.  Taylor added an RBI single in the fourth, and the Red and Green cruised to a 4-0 victory.

“There was a focus [in practice] on just being more aggressive hitting wise,” Taylor said. “For me, it’s all about timing and rhythm and it was good to gain that back in practice this week.”

In game two of the doubleheader, the Bears jumped out to another first-inning lead when sophomore Hannah Mehrle singled to left to score senior Paige Biles. With a slim 1-0 lead in the fourth, freshman pinch hitter Hera Tang provided a spark by hitting an RBI single up the middle and then scoring on a wild pitch to make it 3-0.

The Bears added an insurance run in the fifth and held on for the second 4-0 victory of the day.  

Freshman Mackenzie Gauden (5-1, 2.10 ERA) earned the victory after allowing just three hits in five innings of work and fellow freshman Maggie Clapp tossed two perfect innings to close the game. For Pitkin, being able to witness the development of Gauden and Clapp as pitchers has been an enjoyable experience.

“[Clapp] and [Gauden] did a phenomenal job this weekend. They complement each other really well. To have a few pitchers who can really take care of business together is so fun to watch,” Pitkin said. “It’s been a lot of fun to see them grow into their roles. It’s hard coming in as a freshman. You don’t really know where you fit in, but they’ve hung in there and just kept working hard.”

On Friday, the Bears’ offense took control against Westminster, scoring three runs in the first inning and four in the fourth to hold a commanding 7-0 lead before White smashed a three-run homer in the sixth. It was her 10th round-tripper of the season, which puts her just one home run away from tying the Wash. U. single-season record.

Pitkin kept the Blue Jays off the scoreboard by striking out 11 while surrendering only three hits and a walk in six innings.

After posting the blowout victory, the Bears picked up where they left off with 13 runs and a season-high 18 hits in a 13-0 five-inning triumph. Mehrle (2-for-3, three RBIs) and junior Brooke Hofer (2-for-2, two RBIs) were the top contributors offensively for Wash. U. Gauden nabbed the victory by conceding just one hit in three innings, and Clapp blanked Westminster in two innings to preserve the shutout.  

With four wins already in the books, the Red and Green were slated to play a home doubleheader on Sunday against Webster University, but the games were rained out and will not be rescheduled.