WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 3) – The Waynesburg University softball team opened Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on a cold, gloomy Sunday afternoon. Despite the less-than-perfect weather conditions, the Yellow Jackets looked great on the diamond, as they swept the visiting Thiel Tomcats.
 
Waynesburg (13-4, 2-0) took game one 6-0 and followed that up with a five-inning 10-1 triumph in the late contest.
 
Freshman pitcher Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / Clay Battelle) put together another stellar performance in the circle during the opener. The lefty allowed just two singles, a double and one walk, while piling up 11 strikeouts, as she improved to 6-1 on the season in her seventh complete game of the campaign.
 
The Jacket bats piled up 10 hits in support of Wilson, six of which were of the extra-base variety. Waynesburg tallied an impressive four triples and two doubles in the victory. Junior catcher Brin Hunter (West Alexander, Pa. / McGuffey) came a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle after going three-for-four with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Freshman Kiana Bagnell (Inwood, W.Va. / Musselman) drove in a pair of runs with a three-bagger in the second inning. Sophomore Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) brought the eventual game-winning run home in the bottom of the first inning with an RBI single that scored Hunter.
 
Thiel (5-5, 0-2) scored its first run of the day in the top of the first inning of game two. Waynesburg wasted little time in answering the challenge by piling up seven runs in the bottom of the frame.
 
Once again, Brookman logged the eventual game-winning hit with a two-run double. Junior outfielder Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio / Granville) followed with a two-run triple. Sophomore third baseman Sydney Senay (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan), sophomore shortstop Kayla Gratton (Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway) and freshman outfielder MacKenzie Kearns (Elizabeth, Pa. / Elizabeth Forward) added an RBI each in the breakout inning.
 
Benschoter added an RBI single in second, before sophomore outfielder Kara May (Indian Head, Pa. / Connellsville) doubled in run number nine in the third. Sophomore first baseman Emma Bliss (Uniontown, Pa. / Laurel Highlands) closed the scoring by singling home Benschoter in the fourth.
 
Brookman bounced back from giving up a run in the opening frame to shut down the Tomcats over the final four innings. In fact, just one Thiel batter reached base over that span, doing so by way of an error. The sophomore righty yielded three singles, no walks and piled up five strikeouts in her most recent victory.
 
Like Hunter in game one, Benschoter came a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle after posting a three-for-three effort with three RBIs and two runs scored. Brookman added two RBIs, while Hunter and freshman Dilyn Roberts (Sellersburg, Ind. / Henryville) crossed home plates twice each.
 
Waynesburg is off until Thursday, April 7, when it plays host to Chatham for a PAC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.