WAYNESBURG, Pa. (April 9) – The Waynesburg University softball team hosted Bethany for an important Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) doubleheader on a warm, sunny Thursday. After suffering a heart-breaking 2-1 loss in game one, the Yellow Jackets took their frustration out on Bison pitching in game two en route to a 9-1 victory that ended in six innings.
With the win, Waynesburg (19-9, 7-5) took a two-game lead in the PAC standings for the sixth-and-final spot in the postseason tournament.
Game one got off to a near-perfect start for the Jackets as they kept Bethany (18-7, 8-4) off the board in the top of the first inning, before sophomore
Rylee Rohbeck (Oakdale, Pa. / South Fayette) connected on a lead-off homerun in the bottom of the frame to stake her team to a 1-0 edge.
A fast-moving first four innings saw the Jackets maintain their slim advantage. However, the Bison got a leadoff homer of their own in the top of the fifth to tie the game and manufactured what wound up being the winning-score later in the frame.
Waynesburg put the game-tying run on in the fifth and seventh innings, but couldn't get the equalizer.
Each team was limited to just four hits each, with Rohback adding a single to her solo shot.
Senior
Autumn Stemple (Morgantown, W.Va. / University) suffered her first loss in the circle of the season after working five innings of four-hit ball with two walks and three strikeouts. Sophomore
Pressly Meadows (Annapolis, Ohio / Edison) tossed two innings of no-hit ball to keep her team's hopes of a comeback alive.
Game two again saw the Jackets take a 1-0 lead after one inning thanks to an RBI groundout by junior
Jamie Kelly (Front Royal, Va. / Skyline). Bethany answered with the equalizer in the top of the third, but the home team grabbed the lead right back with a run in the third.
The contest was ultimately decided in the fourth, when Waynesburg unleashed a five-hit assault that pushed six runs across home plate. Sophomore
Tori Foust (Blairsville, Pa. / River Valley) singled home senior
Kassidy Trimble (Parkersburg, W.Va. / Parkersburg South) to make the score 3-1.
Two batters later, the Orange and Black embarked on perhaps its most impressive two-out rally of the season.
Rohbeck drew a bases-loaded walk that brought senior Belle Demark (Carnegie, Pa. / Bishop Canevin) trotting home to put her team up 4-1. Kelly blew the game open in the next at-bat by ripping a two-run double into left field to expand the Jacket advantage to 6-1. Senior
Braylee Corbin (Petersburg, W.Va. / Petersburg) followed with a two-score two-bagger of her own that made it 8-1 and forced a Bethany pitching change.
After retiring the next six Bison hitters in order, the Jackets brought the contest to an early ending when sophomore
Graeson Grubbs (Volant, Pa. / Wilmington) singled and was pulled for pinch-runner
Madie Cicero (Willowick, Ohio / Eastlake North). Cicero came all the way around to score on a walk-off triple by Rohbeck during the next at-bat.
Lost in the offensive outburst was an efficient showing in the circle from freshman
Morgan Walt (Hunker, Pa. / Hempfield), who improved to 4-0 with a complete-game, six-inning effort. She gave up just the one run and held the potent Bison bats to just four singles and a walk.
Rohbeck and Kelly both went a team-best 2-for-3 at the dish in game two, with the latter piling up a game-high three RBIs. Rohbeck and Corbin added two runs driven in each, while Rohbeck scored a contest-best two runs.
Waynesburg will look to carry the momentum from one of its most impressive wins of the season into a rare night doubleheader on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets will try to make a move up the conference standings as they tussle with Chatham in a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
