PITTSBURGH, Pa. (March 27) – The Waynesburg University softball team split a nonconference doubleheader at La Roche on Thursday afternoon.
The Redhawks (3-11) scored three runs in the fifth inning to pull out a 4-3 win in game one. The Yellow Jackets (16-5) used a dozen hits to earn a 13-0 run-rule victory in game two.
Grace Higgins (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon-McMillan) set Waynesburg's career stolen base record with her 44th career stolen base in the top of the third inning of game two, surpassing Courtney Syfert's mark set in 2019.
Game 1 – La Roche 4, Waynesburg 3
Waynesburg scored two runs in the top of the first inning and carried a 3-1 edge into the bottom of the fifth. The Redhawks used three hits and one error to plate three runs and take a 4-3 lead.
The Jackets went down in order in the sixth and seventh innings to give the hosts a one-run victory.
Both teams had seven hits in the ballgame, however Waynesburg drew five walks without issuing a base on balls. The Jackets ended up stranding nine baserunners compared to four for La Roche. The Jackets left multiple runners on base in four innings.
The Jackets built a 2-0 lead in the opening frame as
Tori Foust (Blairsville, Pa. / River Valley) and
Breanna Rice (Morgantown, W.Va. / Morgantown) both notched RBI singles.
Brynn Charnesky (Scottdale, Pa. / Southmoreland) put Waynesburg up 3-1 in the third with a two-out RBI single to left.
Freshmen pitchers
Madison Baker (Kittanning, Pa. / Armstrong) and
Pressley Meadows (Annapolis, Ohio / Edison) pitched for the Jackets. Baker allowed four runs, three earned, on six hits in 4.1 innings of work. Meadows did not allow a run in 1.2 innings of relief.
Game 2 – Waynesburg 13, La Roche 0 (5 innings)
Waynesburg scored multiple runs in each of the first four innings and cruised to a run-shortened victory in the nightcap.
Foust's two-run single highlighted a four-run first inning. The Jackets walked in a run and tacked on another with a sacrifice fly to lead 6-0 after two innings.
Meysa Heitmann (Morgantown, W.Va. / University) notched an RBI double in the third and scored on an error to push the Waynesburg lead to 8-0. A five-run fifth was highlighted by a two-run single by
Katelynn Britenbaugh (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler) and a run-scoring double by Foust.
Meadows and Baker split the second game as well and combined for a shutout. Meadows was the winning pitcher after striking out four and allowing three hits in three innings. Baker did not allow a run on four hits in two innings.
Six of Waynesburg's 12 hits went for extra bases in the ballgame. Heitmann had three hits, doubled twice and scored four runs. Foust also knocked two doubles and drove in three.
Kaitlyn Jagielski (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) had two hits, a double and a run scored. Higgins went 2-for-3 and scored twice.
Kassidy Trimble (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) also scored two runs.
Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. / Clay-Battelle),
Alyssa Rager (Washington, Pa. / Trinity) and Britenbaugh each drove in two runs.
The Jackets travel to Grove City for a Presidents' Athletic Conference doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
