WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 30) – The Waynesburg University softball team wrapped up the 2022 regular season by hosting Franciscan on Saturday for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader. The Yellow Jackets look like they are ready for the upcoming PAC tournament as they swept the Barons by the final scores of 20-1 and 5-4.
 
Surprisingly, Waynesburg (24-9, 13-5) trailed 1-0 after a half-inning of play in the opener after Franciscan (7-23, 3-15) picked up an unearned run in the top of the first. However, any doubts concerning who was taking game one were erased by one Yellow Jacket run in the bottom of the first and the first of back-to-back seven-run innings in the second.
 
Waynesburg tallied five final runs in the bottom of the fourth before wrapping things up in the top of the fifth. The victory was just as much about the Jacket bats, as it was about taking advantage of Baron miscues. While Waynesburg out-hit the opposition 13-3, it also drew 10 walks and saw two of its own get hit by pitches.
 
Sophomores Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) and Sydney Senay (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon McMillan paced the onslaught by logging five RBIs each. Brookman went two-for-two with a homerun, a triple and two walks, while Senay went three-for-three with two doubles and a walk. The hard-hitting duo joined freshman Kiana Bagnell (Inwood, W.Va. / Musselman), junior Brin Hunter (West Alexander, Pa. / McGuffey) and junior Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio / Granville) in scoring three runs each.
 
All of the gaudy offensive numbers were more than enough support from freshman Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / Clay Battelle), who improved to 15-4 in her first collegiate season in the circle. She gave up just the one unearned run on two singles, a double and a walk. Wilson struck out four Barons on her way to her latest victory.
 
Waynesburg head coach Brett Shimek decided to reward some of the younger members of his roster for their hard work over the span of a long, difficult season. All nine starters in game two were either reserves or starters in different positions.
 
Once again, Franciscan scored first, this time doing so with a run in the top of the second inning. The visitors kept the score at 1-0 until the bottom of the bottom of the fifth, when Waynesburg struck for a pair of tallies. Senay came into the game off the bench to stroke an RBI single and the home team picked up its first lead of game two when Brookman picked up a run-scoring single of her own.
 
Franciscan battled back with three runs in the top of the sixth and looked poised to leave town with the split. However, with the chance to clinch the number-two seed in the upcoming PAC tournament on the line, Waynesburg's starters continued trickling back into the lineup as pinch hitters to try and pull out the victory.
 
Still trailing by two heading into the bottom of the seventh, Brookman posted her second RBI single of the contest to make the score 4-3. The next batter, junior Lauren Lober (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston), singled home the game-tying score (4-4). Two batters later, Waynesburg had runners on second and third with one out on the scoreboard, setting the stage for an unlikely hero to record the game-winning hit.
 
Freshman Katelynn Brittenbaugh (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler), who replaced Hunter behind the plate for the late contest, didn't let her teammates down and poked the game-winning hit through that allowed Brookman to score the walk-off run.
 
Waynesburg showed off its depth by outhitting Franciscan 14-9 in game two. Sophomore Kayla Gratton (Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway) tallied three of those hits, one of which was a double. Freshman Jessica Rothka (Eighty Four, Pa. / Bentworth) tallied two hits and scored two runs. Brookman, Lober and Brittenbaugh also logged a pair of hits each in the regular season-ending victory.
 
Brookman's highly productive day also saw her earn her sixth win of the season in the circle. She allowed four runs, two of which were earned, on nine hits, eight of which were singles, and two walks. She struck out four Franciscan hitters.
 
Not only was it a successful day for the Jackets, but a historic one as well. Their 24^th win is a new single-season program record for victories in a season. This year also marked the first time Waynesburg ended a regular season with a winning record since before the 2005 campaign. The 20 runs scored in the opener were the most put up by a Jacket squad since scoring 25 against Penn State Fayette in 2016.
 
Waynesburg will also make its first trip to the PAC postseason tournament since 2011. The Yellow Jackets, who will serve as the second seed, will face off with third-seeded Bethany on Thursday, May 5. The two squads, who split the regular season doubleheader in Waynesburg, will square off at 10 a.m. on Westminster's home field, as the Titans earned hosting rights by finishing as the conference's regular season champions.
 
For a complete look at the PAC tournament setup, click here.