WASHINGTON, Pa. (April 18) -- The Thiel College Softball team split a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader at Washington and Jefferson College Friday evening from Brooks Park.

Becca Landis (Kinsman, Ohio/Mathews) posted 11 strikeouts and retired the first 14 batters of game one as the Tomcats (14-14, 8-8) mashed 15 hits in a 6-0 win while the Presidents (12-15, 7-9) took the nightcap 12-7.

Heading into the home stretch of the schedule, Thiel is a half game back of 8-7 Waynesburg and Bethany for the sixth spot in the conference standing. The top six teams will reach the PAC Championship Tournament. 

Game 1 -- Thiel 6, W&J 0

Landis retired the Presidents in order and struck out two in each of the first three innings as the game stayed scoreless. The Tomcats broke through in the fourth as Dani Ficeti (Greenville, Pa./Greenville) singled, Kylie Heid (Monaca, Pa./Central Valley) doubled and Alaina Fedder (Clearfield, Pa./Clearfield Area) brought in the games first run on a sacrifice fly. Thiel plated 2 more in the inning, one of which came on a Sheila Despenses single, to lead 3-0. 

Ficeti finished 3-for-4 while Heid was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and a walk. Fedder was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and a run. Despenses had a hit, run, RBI and walk each.

Landis K'd two more in the bottom of the fourth and downed the first two batters in the fifth before allowing a base hit and a walk. In total, she carried a perfect game into the fifth and retired the first 14 batters of the game. Landis got a swinging K to thwart the Presidents' threat in the fifth and induced a game-ending double play in the seventh to seal the victory. 

Landis struck out 11 and allowed just three hits and walked two en route to her ninth win of the season.

The first four Tomcats reached to open the seventh as Thiel scraped home another run to lead 4-0. With runners at second and third, Jensen Stehlik (Sagamore Hills, Ohio/Nordonia) delivered a 2-run single to push the lead to 6-0 and spell the final score.

Stehlik finished with a pair of RBIs while Mackenzie Herman (Greenville, Pa./Reynolds), Abby Rottman (Hilliards, Pa./Moniteau) and Kayley Risser (Reynoldsville, Pa./Dubois Central Catholic) each logged two hits. 

Game 2 -- Thiel 7, W&J 12

The home side plated 2 in the first and third to lead 4-0. Thiel got on the board with a Fedder run-scoring single in the fourth before the Presidents broke the game open with an 8-spot in the bottom half to lead 12-1.

Thiel answered in the top of the fifth as Herman laced a bases-loaded two-RBI double to trim the deficit to 12-3. The visitors added 2 more on an error to make it 12-5 and capped the 6-run inning with a Heid 2-run bomb to make it 12-7. 

From the dish, Herman had two RBIs and a run. In the circle, she got the start and took the loss, falling to 3-3. Heid had a 3-for-4 game two with 2 runs and RBIs each. Ava Gilmore (West Middlesex, Pa./West Middlesex Area) had a two-hit performance in the loss 

Landis came on in relief and escaped a bases-loaded jam in the sixth to keep Thiel within striking distance. She added one more strikeout in the appearance to run her season total to 110, which is second in the PAC and six shy of tying Amanda Callahan's 2012 single-season program record of 116.

The Tomcats were not able to work any late-inning magic en route to the defeat.

Looking Ahead

Softball heads to reigning PAC champions Westminster next Wednesday for a 3:30 p.m. doubleheader. The Titans are currently tied for the PAC lead at 11-5 in league play.