WASHINGTON, Pa. (March 21) – The Waynesburg University softball team opened Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) play on Saturday with a road doubleheader at Washington & Jefferson. The Yellow Jackets fell 4-2 in game one, before finding their groove at the plate in a 6-2 victory in game two.
After a scoreless first inning, Waynesburg (12-4, 1-1) got on the board when senior
Kassidy Trimble (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) scored on an error in the top of the second. W&J (5-7, 1-1) rebounded to tie the score with a tally in the bottom of the frame.
The home team took the lead for good in the bottom of the third with a three spot. The Jackets attempted to rally in the top of the fourth when sophomore
Meysa Heitmann (Morgantown, W.Va. / University) singled home senior
Braylee Corbin (Petersburg, W.Va. / Petersburg) with two outs on the board. Unfortunately, W&J retired the next batter to end the threat.
Freshman
Emily Pratt (Bedford, Pa. / Bedford) took the loss in the circle after allowing the four runs on 10 hits and two walks. Sophomore
Pressly Meadows (Annapolis, Ohio / Edison) tossed a perfect inning of relief.
Waynesburg took its first lead of the day in the top of the first inning of game two. Heitmann led off the game with a single and moved to second on a Corbin base knock. Two batters later, with two outs on the board, sophomore
Graeson Grubbs (Volant, Pa. / Wilmington) produced an RBI single to make the score 1-0.
W&J answered in bottom of the frame with a pair of runs and held that lead until the top of the third. After Heitmann led off with an infield single, junior
Jamie Kelly (Front Royal, Va. / Skyline) teed off on her third homerun of the season to put the Jackets up 3-2. Speaking of the longball, Corbin followed with a solo shot, her PAC-leading sixth of the season, to double Waynesburg's advantage to 4-2.
Heitmann continued her red-hot day with a run-scoring double in the fourth that gave the Jackets a three-run advantage (5-2). The Orange and Black concluded the scoring in the fifth when Grubbs plated her second of the contest by doubling home Corbin.
After giving up two runs in the first, sophomore
Madison Baker (Kittaning, Pa. / Armstrong) was outstanding in the circle. She improved to 3-1 on the season after allowing those two scores on six hits and one walk. She tallied three strikeouts on the afternoon.
Heitman produced perhaps the best game of her brief collegiate career by going 4-for-4 with a double, a stolen base, an RBI and two runs scored. Corbin added two hits, a walk, an RBI and a pair of runs scored, while Grubbs posted a 2-for-4 showing with a double and two RBIs.
The win ended Waynesburg's five-game losing streak against W&J.
The Jackets are back in action on Tuesday, March 24, when they travel to Allegheny for a PAC doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled to be thrown at 3 p.m.
