WAYNESBURG, Pa. (March 24) – The Waynesburg University softball team hosted La Roche College on Tuesday for a non-Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader. The Yellow Jackets swept the Redhawks by the final scores of 5-3 and 5-4.
 
Waynesburg (6-10) has now won five-of-six games since returning from its Spring Break trip. The Jackets have also stretched their season-high win streak to three games.
 
Game one got off to a hot start, as the home team took a 3-0 lead after one inning of play. Following a scoreless top of the frame, sophomore Demi Lewin and freshman Amanda Brown drew back-to-back walks to open the bottom of the first. The pair was moved into scoring position following a sacrifice bunt by sophomore Mackenzie Smith.
 
Senior Haley Payne came up with the first big hit of the contest when she drilled a two-run double to plate Lewin and Brown. Junior Cameron Grimes brought Payne in to score with a double of her own. Senior Theresa Soknich recorded Waynesburg's third double of the inning, but La Roche (7-7) managed to pick up the third out to stop the rally.
 
The Redhawks got on the board in top of the second to make the score 3-1, before the Jackets answered in the bottom of the frame with a bunt single RBI by Brown that allowed senior Emily Sorton to score. Sorton led off her team's half of the second with a triple.
 
After La Roche cut its deficit to 4-3 with two runs in the top of the third, neither team scored in the fourth and fifth innings. Waynesburg picked up an important insurance run in its half of the sixth thanks to an RBI single by junior Katey Potopenko that drove in sophomore Ashley Demarco.
 
The Hawks made things interesting in the top of the seventh by putting two runners on with two outs on the board. Luckily, Grimes, who went into the pitcher's circle in the fourth inning, was able to stop the rally and preserve the victory.
 
Sophomore Lyndi Gareis got the pitching start and allowed three runs, two of which were earned, over three innings of play. She allowed five hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out three La Roche hitters. Grimes sealed up the victory with four scoreless innings of work. She gave up just three hits, all singles, and no walks.
 
Game two opened with the Redhawks scoring the game's first two runs in the bottom of the first. La Roche's 2-0 advantage was cut in half thanks to a third-inning single by Lewin that drove in Soknich. Waynesburg took the lead during a three-run fourth that featured RBI singles by Soknich and junior Jessica Dorazio. The Jackets went up 4-2 and capped the rally when Soknich stole home.
 
The Orange and Black put together the eventual game-winning score during the sixth inning. After Demarco got on base with a one-out error, freshman Cassie Hudson singled. A second Redhawk error loaded the bases, before La Roche recorded the second out of the frame. Lewin came through in the clutch with a two-out single that brought Demarco across the dish to go ahead 5-2.
 
La Roche fired back with two scores in the bottom of the sixth inning to make the score 5-4. The visitors threatened to tie things up in the seventh after putting a runner in scoring position with one out on the board. However, Potopenko, who came in to pitch before the start of the frame, induced back-to-back groundouts to preserve the victory.
 
Junior Stephanie Kotomski, Grimes and Potopenko combined to pitch the Jackets to the victory. Kotomski and Grimes gave up two runs each over a combined six innings of work.  
 
Soknich and Grimes totaled a team-high three hits each over the sweep, while Soknich and Demarco scored a squad-best two runs each. Lewin and Payne posted two RBI each.
 
Waynesburg is back in action on Thursday, March 26, when it heads to Penn State Fayette for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.