NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (May 4) – The Waynesburg University softball teams magical run in the Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Championship Tournament came to an end Saturday afternoon in the winner-take-all final against Westminster College.
 
The Titans (25-11) edged the Yellow Jackets (23-18) 1-0 on a walk-off single in the bottom of the seventh to end the Orange and Black's two-year reign as conference champions.
 
Tied at 0 heading into the bottom of the seventh, the top-seeded Titans loaded the bases with nobody out against southpaw Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / Clay-Battelle). Head coach Brett Shimek called everyone into the circle and decided to align centerfielder Kassidy Trimble (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) in the infield and shift right fielder Bella Demark (Carnegie, Pa. / Bishop Canevin) all the way over to left center.
 
Wilson forced a liner from Maddy Brown which was caught by Demark in left center. She fired into second and doubled-off the runner. 
 
Ava Karpa stepped to the plate and popped up towards Grace Higgins (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) at second. The ball landed in front of Higgins, took a weird spin and skipped past the reigning PAC Newcomer of the Year as the winning run crossed the plate.
 
Wilson took the hard-luck loss as she went 6.2 innings, allowing just four hits and 1 unearned run while striking out two. The two-time PAC Pitcher of the Year finishes her junior campaign with an 11-7 record.
 
The Yellow Jackets had their best scoring chance in the sixth inning as Trinity Edge (Franklin, Pa. / Franklin) drew a leadoff walk and advanced to third on a Trimble single. The Jackets attempted to steal a run on a suicide squeeze attempt from Breanna Rice (Morgantown, W.Va. / Morgantown) but Edge was thrown out at home on the play.
 
The Jackets had at least one baserunner in every inning and put at least one runner in scoring position in every inning except the fourth but were unable to capitalize.
 
Wilson allowed a one-out single in the first but settled in to retire the next 11 batters faced. She gave up a leadoff single in the fifth but the runner was erased on a double play.
 
Alyssa Rager (Washington, Pa. / Trinity) finished 2-for-3 with a pair of line-drive singles. Higgins, Trimble, Rice, Demark, Emma Bliss (Uniontown, Pa. / Laurel Highlands) and Kayla Gratton (Monroeville, Pa. / Gateway) each collected hits in the loss. As a team, the Jackets outhit the Titans 8-4.
 
Following the conclusion of the tournament, Higgins, Edge and Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) were named to the All-Tournament Team.
 
The senior trio of Bliss, Gratton and Brookman finish their Waynesburg careers with a 91-53 career record.
 
Brookman ends her career as one of the greatest Yellow Jackets of all time. She is the programs career record holder in hits (166), RBIs (113), doubles (50), triples (13) and drawn walks (55). She finishes second in runs scored (96) to Brin Hunter's program mark of 104.