Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score
KENNEDY TWP., Pa. (March 26) – It was an up-and-down day for the Waynesburg University softball team on Saturday as it faced NAIA opponent Carlow University in a road doubleheader.
The Yellow Jackets dominated game one to the tune of a 14-5 five-inning victory, but a handful of costly errors stifled Waynesburg's chances at victory in a five-inning 10-2 defeat at the hands of the Celtics in game two. With the split, the Jackets are now 7-5 on the year, while Carlow's record moved to 7-10.
The visitors came out swinging in the opener and took a 6-0 lead in the first inning on seven hits and an error. One of those hits was a three-run homer for senior pitcher Amanda Baughman, which plated freshman second baseman Shannon Falleroni and sophomore shortstop Rachael Moon and put the visitors ahead 3-0. Two batters later, sophomore catcher Lizz Bombara blasted a solo shot of her own to make it 4-0 Waynesburg.
Following singles by junior third baseman Samantha Volponi and senior first baseman Kristen Lautenschlager, senior leftfielder Nicole Forte drove in the fifth run of the inning with a single. A Carlow error brought in the inning's final score and made it 6-0 Jackets.
The Celtics clawed back into the contest with four runs in the bottom of the second and the two teams traded homeruns in the third to make it a 7-5 Waynesburg advantage heading into the top of the fourth, when the Jackets were finally able to put the game away.
Senior center fielder Amber Pivik singled in the first run of the inning and two batters later, Volponi plated a pair of teammates with a bases-clearing triple to move the Jackets head 10-5. Lautenschlager made it back-to-back three-baggers that pushed her team's advantage to 11-5. A passed ball allowed Lautenschlager to score and by the time the half-inning came to a close, the Jackets led 12-5.
After Carlow failed to score in the bottom of the fourth, Waynesburg added its final runs of the game with Baughman's second homer of the day, a two-run shot that scored her and Falleroni and brought about the final score of 14-5. The Celtics went down in order in the bottom of the fifth to seal the win.
After a bit of a rocky start, Baughman settled in and picked up the victory in the circle for Waynesburg. She improved to 2-2 on the year after tossing all five innings, giving up five runs, four of which were earned, on six hits and striking out four. The three-time All-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) honoree retired the last nine batters she faced.
As well as things started in game one for Waynesburg, they started just that poorly in game two. Carlow scored seven runs in the first inning of the late game, but only two of them were earned after the Jackets committed two of their five errors in the opening frame.
The visitors' only runs of the game were scored on a groundout by Volponi in the second inning and a solo homerun by Moon in the fourth. Freshman Carrie Maier started and suffered the loss by giving up seven runs, only two of which were earned. Junior Lauren Minor worked the final three innings of the game, gave up three runs, one of which was earned, and struck out two.
Waynesburg is back in action on Thursday, March 31, when the Jackets head to Uniontown to face Penn State Fayette, the Eberly Campus. First pitch is scheduled for 4:30 p.m.
