WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 10) – The Waynesburg University softball team hosted Bethany on Sunday for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader. After a handful of fielding errors doomed the Yellow Jackets in a 2-1 game-one loss, the Waynesburg bats woke up in a big way by downing the Bison 11-4 in game two.
 
The opener lived up to its billing as a battle of two of the league's top pitchers. Waynesburg freshman Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va.) faced off with 2021 first-team All-PAC pitcher Josie Wise. The back-and-forth in the circle didn't disappoint, as the two standouts kept the opposing hitters off balance for most of the day.
 
Five Waynesburg errors were the deciding factor in game one, as the Bison (10-9, 3-1) tallied both their runs on plays that included a defensive mishap.
 
Despite their struggles both at the plate and in the field, sophomore third baseman Sydney Senay's (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) solo homerun in the seventh kept Waynesburg's (16-5, 5-1) hopes for victory alive. Unfortunately, Bethany was able to halt the Jacket rally with back-to-back outs that sealed up the win.
 
Though Waynesburg managed just two hits in game one, they were both of the extra-hit variety. Along Senay's homer, junior Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio / Granville) recorded a double.
 
Wilson posted another outstanding effort, despite it not leading to victory. She scattered four singles and allowed a pair of walks, while tallying up seven strikeouts. Her league-leading ERA dropped to 0.19 and her PAC-best strikeout total grew to 97 for the spring.
 
While Bethany decided to stick with Wise for game two, Waynesburg countered with sophomore Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston). The Bison looked primed to complete the sweep after taking a 2-0 lead following two innings of play. However, the Jacket bats finally woke up and took out plenty of frustration from game one on Wise in the third inning.
 
Junior catcher Brin Hunter (West Alexander, Pa. / McGuffey) tied the game with a two-run double that just barely missed clearing the wall at Waynesburg's home field. Brookman gave her team its first lead of the day with a two-run single that made the score 4-2. Benschoter logged what wound up being the game-winning hit, when she launched a two-run bomb that grew the Jacket advantage to 6-2.
 
Waynesburg used its speed and precision to pull off a double-steal that included sophomore Emma Bliss (Uniontown, Pa. / Laurel Highlands) sprinting home to make the score 7-2. The Jackets got another two-run hit courtesy of freshman Kiana Bagnell (Inwood, W.Va. / Musselman), who smacked a double. Hunter and Brookman both drove in their third runs of the inning on singles that extended the home team's advantage to a game-high 11-2.
 
Bethany manufactured its final two runs in the fourth, but it was too little, too late, as the Jackets rolled to the win. Brookman was fantastic over the final three innings of the day, as she allowed just one batter to reach by error.
 
Six different Yellow Jackets tallied two hits each and made up the majority of their 13-hit performance in the late contest. Hunter and Brookman paced all players with three RBIs each. Bagnell and Benschoter drove in two runs each to help power the win. Seven different Jackets scored at least one run each.
 
Waynesburg gets right back to work on Monday, April 11, as it travels to Grove City to play a pair of PAC games with the Wolverines. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.