MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (March 5) – The Waynesburg University softball team opened the 2023 season on Sunday at the Fast Pitch Dreams Spring Classic. The Yellow Jackets split a pair of games against programs coming off winning records in 2022.
 
Freshman pitcher Autumn Stemple (Morgantown, W.Va. / University) stole the show in game one, as she held Cazenovia to just three hits, two of which were singles, and racked up 11 strikeouts during an 8-0 Jacket win that lasted just five innings. In her first collegiate frame, Stemple struck out the side in order and never looked back from there.
 
Waynesburg (1-1) got all the offense it needed in the bottom of the third when junior Sydney Senay (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Two batters later, freshman Bella DeMark (Carnegie, Pa. / Bishop Canevin) connected on a two-run double that put her team up 3-0.
 
After a second-straight perfect inning by Stemple, junior Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) singled home senior Brin Hunter (West Alexander, Pa. / McGuffey) to increase her team's lead to 4-0. The Jackets' next batter, senior Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio / Granville), connected on another Waynesburg extra-base hit, this one a two-run triple.
 
Benschoter trotted home in the ensuing at-bat, which featured a Senay single.
 
Stemple got herself into her first collegiate bind with back-to-back hits by Cazenovia (1-1) to lead off the third. The rookie righty bounced back with consecutive strikeouts and a foul out to keep the shutout intact.
 
After neither team scored in the third or fourth, Waynesburg put the game away with its eighth run of the game in the bottom of the fifth. It was Hunter who did the honors by connecting on an RBI single that brought home freshman Jasmine Demaske (Waynesburg, Pa. / Jefferson-Morgan) that produced the winning run.
 
Hunter paced the Waynesburg offense by going three-for-four with an RBI and a run scored. Brookman and DeMark logged a pair of hits each.
 
Game two saw Waynesburg face off with Gettysburg in another shutout. Unfortunately, it was Waynesburg who couldn't get the bats going, as it fell 4-0 to the Bullets.
 
Sophomore Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / ClayClay-Battelle) got the start in the circle and gave up a pair of runs in the bottom of the first inning. Gettysburg (3-0) added a run in the fifth and one more in the sixth to seal up the victory.
 
Benschoter went two-for-three at the dish in the late game to pace the Jackets. Hunter, Brookman and sophomore Grace Higgins (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) added a hit each in the late game.
 
Wilson suffered the complete-game defeat after giving up four earned runs on eight hits and two walks.
 
The Jackets are back in action tomorrow with two more games in South Carolina. Waynesburg is scheduled to face Rosemont at 11 a.m. and Eastern Nazarene at 5 p.m.