WASHINGTON, Pa. (April 9) – The Waynesburg University softball team dropped a pair of road Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) games to rival Washington & Jefferson College Tuesday afternoon at Brooks Park.
The Yellow Jackets fall to 14-7 (6-3 PAC) while the Presidents move to (7-9, 4-2 PAC). Tuesday's losses mark the first time since 2021 that the Jackets were swept in a road doubleheader.
Game 1 – Waynesburg 2, Washington & Jefferson 3
Grace Higgins (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) ripped a lead-off triple to center to start the afternoon for the Jackets.
Trinity Edge (Franklin, Pa. / Franklin) blooped a two-out RBI single to center to score Higgins and give Waynesburg a 1-0 lead.
The Presidents took the lead in the bottom half of the first as they tacked on a pair of runs to go up 2-1.
The score remained 2-1 until the fifth when
Sydney Waryanka (Greensburg, Pa. / Hempfield) knocked an RBI double off the right-field wall to make it 2-2. Edge and Waryanaka each posted multi-hit days for the eight and fourth time, respectively, this season.
The home side again responded in the bottom half of the inning, this time with a run-scoring triple to make it 3-2.
The Orange and Black put the tying run and potential-game-winning run on base in the seventh but were unable to push either across the plate. The game one loss was the Jackets' first road loss of the season and snapped the teams seven-game winning streak.
Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / Clay- Battelle) suffered her first loss of the season (7-1) as she allowed five hits and 3 runs while striking out five.
Game 2 – Waynesburg 3, Washington & Jefferson 4
The Yellow Jackets struck first as
Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) clubbed a 2-run homer, her first of the year, in the third to left center, tying the program's career RBIs record (106) held by Amanda Baughman. Brookman is now one hit shy of tying
Brin Hunter's career hits mark (152).
Autumn Stemple (Morgantown, W.Va. / University) got the start for the Jackets and worked three hitless innings before allowing a leadoff double to start the fourth. Deanna Gratton, the sister of Jackets shortstop
Kayla Gratton (Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway), knocked an RBI single in the fourth to get the Presidents on the board. The home side added a run in the fifth on a triple to tie things at 2.
After Edge and
Kaitlyn Jagielski (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) got hits to start the sixth,
Emma Bliss (Uniontown, Pa. / Laurel Highlands) looped a run-scoring single into short center to put Waynesburg back up 3-2. Bliss finished 2-for-2 with an RBI and a walk.
The Presidents loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth with nobody out, but Stemple worked out of the jam with a foul out and an inning-ending 5-2-3 double play.
After the visitors went down in order in the seventh, the home side knocked a pair of hits to start the bottom frame. A sacrifice fly to left tied things at 3 and ultimately won the game as Waryanka's errant throw in from left allowed the winning run to score from second, just narrowly beating the tag at the plate.
Stemple falls to 5-3 on the year with the loss. She struck out five and allowed 4 runs (3 earned).
The Jackets return to action Thursday for a home PAC doubleheader with Bethany College at 3:30 p.m.
