WAYNESBURG, Pa. (March 30) – The Waynesburg University softball team hosted Chatham for a Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader on Thursday. The Yellow Jackets logged a third-straight shutout by blanking the Cougars 8-0 in game one, before completing the sweep with a 7-2 victory in game two.
Thursday saw the Jackets (13-3, 4-0) run their current winning streak to seven games, which is tied for the longest active run of success in the conference.
Sophomore
Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / Clay-Battelle) shined once again in the circle as she not only posted a third-straight complete-game shutout in as many starts, but added her first save on the season in the late contest. The reigning PAC Pitcher of the Year improved to 7-2 on the season after giving up just a double, two singles and one walk in defeating Chatham (4-14, 1-4).
Senior
Brin Hunter (West Alexander, Pa. / McGuffey) produced the eventual game-winning runs with a two-run double in the first. The Jackets doubled their advantage in the third inning when freshman
Kassidy Trimble (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) drilled her own two-run two-bagger.
Staying in the third, freshman
Jasmine Demaske (Waynesburg, Pa. / Jefferson-Morgan) produced an RBI single, before Wilson capped a five-run frame with a run-scoring double. Waynesburg ended the opener in the fifth when senior
Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio / Granville) teed off on a walk-off solo homerun.
Hunter and Benschoter paced Waynesburg's eight-hit showing with two base knocks each.
Offense played a much more prominent role in game two as the two conference rivals combined for 22 hits. A big reason for the Jackets' latest victory was the fact that five of their 12 hits were of the extra-base variety, including a double and a triple by sophomore
Grace Higgins (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan), who also stole a base.
Waynesburg scored the first run of the game when Higgins sprinted home thanks to an error. Two batters later, freshman
Paige McAvoy (Canonsburg, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) drew a bases-loaded walk to pick up an RBI and make the score 2-0.
The Jacket lead remained at two until the fourth when Hunter doubled in runs three and four. Two batters later, Benschoter added another entry into a very productive day by singling Hunter home to make the score 5-0.
To Chatham's credit, it never gave up and cut its deficit down to three runs after posting a two spot in the top of the fifth. Freshman starting pitcher
Autumn Stemple (Morgantown, W.Va. / University) halted the rally by recording the final out of the frame. She was replaced by Wilson in the sixth.
Waynesburg managed to give itself some more breathing room in the sixth, when junior
Sydney Senay (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) produced her biggest hit of the day: a two-out, two-run single that brought about the eventual final score.
Chatham managed to put a runner on in the top of the seventh, but Wilson induced a slick 3-6-3 double play that was started and finished by Brookman.
Stemple improved to 5-1 in the circle after scattering eight hits and two walks over five innings of work. She tallied three strikeouts during her most recent appearance. Wilson yielded a pair of hits, no walks and struck out one Cougar.
Higgins paced the Jackets at the plate by going three-for-four with two runs scored and coming a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle. Benschoter and Senay logged a pair of hits each in the late contest.
Waynesburg is scheduled to play its third home doubleheader of the week on Sunday, when it hosts Mount Aloysius for a 2 p.m. non-PAC twin bill.
