WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 21) – The Waynesburg University softball team saved one of its best performances of 2015 for Tuesday's home finale against Washington & Jefferson. The Yellow Jackets upset the defending Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) champions as part of a home doubleheader.
 
Waynesburg (10-26, 4-12) upended the Presidents (18-10, 11-5) 4-3 in the opener, before falling 9-2 in the late contest. The victory snapped a four-game losing streak to W&J.
 
The Jackets opened the scoring in game two when sophomore Demi Lewin singled in shortstop Jessica Dorazio in the bottom of the first inning. Waynesburg's 1-0 lead only lasted until the third inning, when the visiting team scored twice to go up 2-1. The Presidents tacked on their third and final run in the fifth.
 
The Orange and Black wasn't about to go away, however. Lewin came up big once again for the Yellow Jackets, this time in the fifth inning. With two runners on and nobody out, the sophomore standout connected on a bases-clearing triple that tied the score at 3-3. The next batter, senior first baseman Haley Payne, gave her team a 4-3 lead with a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
 
The Presidents threatened to regain the advantage in the sixth, when they loaded the bases with just one out on the scoreboard. Luckily, junior starting pitcher Stephanie Kotomski was able to induce back-to-back groundouts to keep her team ahead of the opposition. The Jackets sealed the victory with a one-two-three top of the seventh.
 
Kotomski recorded one of her biggest wins of the year by scattering 10 hits over a complete-game effort. She allowed three runs, only two of which were earned, and didn't walk a batter.
 
W&J jumped out to a 7-0 lead in the first inning and never looked back in game two. Sophomore Ashley Demarco scored Waynesburg's first run on a passed ball in the fifth inning. Senior outfielder Theresa Soknich singled in Kotomski later in the frame for the Jackets' second-and-final run of the day.
 
Sophomore Lyndi Gareis started and took the loss after giving up seven runs in an inning of work in the circle. Juniors Cameron Grimes and Katey Potopenko combined for six solid innings of relief, during which they gave up two runs, one of which was earned, on seven hits and one walk.
 
Payne, Dorazio, Lewin and Soknich picked up two hits each over Tuesday's split. Lewin logged a team-high three RBI, while Dorazio scored twice.
 
Waynesburg will wrap up the 2015 season on Saturday, April 25, with a road trip to Chatham. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for 1 p.m.