BETHANY, W.Va. (April 25) – The Waynesburg University softball team played games five and six over a three-day period when it traveled to Bethany for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader. The Yellow Jackets battled the Bison in both contests, but came up just short of victory.
 
Bethany (19-13, 11-3) came out on top in a 2-1 game that took eight innings to decide. The Bison followed with an entertaining 9-7 victory in the late contest.
 
The home team struck first in the opener, taking a 1-0 edge in the bottom of the second inning and maintained that advantage until top of the sixth, when senior Kayla Alderson (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) teed off on her second homerun of the year to tie the game at 1-1.
 
The score stayed knotted through the scheduled seven innings. Waynesburg (12-22, 3-13) managed to put two runners on base with two outs on the board in the top of the eighth. Unfortunately, a well-struck line drive to third off the bat of sophomore Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio / Granville) was snared to keep the score at 1-1.
 
Bethany ended the game in the bottom of the inning.
 
Alderson tallied half of Waynesburg's four hits by going two-for-two in game one.
 
Senior Emma Kubalak (Spring Mills, Pa. / Penns Valley) and freshman Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) were both effective in the circle. Kubalak started and allowed one earned run on six hits and a walk over 4.1 innings of work. Brookman suffered the tough-luck loss after giving up the walk-off run to cap three innings of one-hit ball. She struck out one and walked a pair of opposing hitters.
 
While the opener was dominated by pitching and defense, both teams' bats took center stage in the late contest.
 
Waynesburg took its first lead of the day when freshman Emma Bliss (Uniontown, Pa. / Laurel Highlands) produced an RBI groundout with the bases loaded. Brookman then stepped to the plate and ripped a two-run double to make the score 3-0.
 
Bethany answered in a big way with a three-spot in the bottom of the first, another three-spot in the second and a single tally in the third to take a 7-3 advantage.
 
Waynesburg rallied to tie the score back up with two runs in the fourth and two more in the fifth. Freshman Sydney Senay (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) connected on a solo homerun that made the score 7-4. Benschoter recorded a sacrifice fly RBI that made the score 7-5. Run-scoring singles by sophomore Lauren Lober (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) and freshman Kara May (Indian Head, Pa. / Connellsville) in the fifth tied things up at 7-7.
 
Unfortunately, Bethany wasted little time in taking the lead back, as it produced the two game-deciding runs in the bottom of the fifth. The Jackets put the lead-off batter on in the top of the sixth, but their final six batters were retired in order to close out the day.
 
Freshman Shay Giesey (Barnesville, Ohio / Monroe Central) suffered the loss in the circle after starting and allowing six runs over 1.2 innings of work. Kubalak worked the final 4.1 innings and gave up three runs, two of which were earned.
 
Lober led the Jacket offense with a game-high three hits and a stolen base.
 
Waynesburg wraps up its regular season schedule on Saturday, May 1, when it travels to Steubenville, Ohio, for a PAC doubleheader against Franciscan. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.