Softball Team Prepares to Face Tough PAC Competition
After playing a Presidents’ Athletic Conference doubleheader Sunday, April 2, against Chatham University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the Waynesburg University softball team continues its schedule of doubleheaders and conference games coming up this weekend.
The Jackets will take a road trip down to Crestview Hills, Kentucky, to play a doubleheader against the Thomas More Saints – a team they haven’t played yet this season.
Coming into this matchup, head softball coach Richele Hall said the Saints are one of the tougher teams in the conference.
“[Thomas More is] a pretty tough team, but we can hang with them if we can stay away from things such as errors and [if] we can put the bat on the ball,” said Hall.
In the two previous games with Thomas More, the Saints had their way with the Jackets, sweeping them in a doubleheader in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania. The sweep, according to Hall, came partially due to an offensive slump.
“Last year, we had a tough time with the Saints,” said Hall. “We struggle to get the bat on the ball and our pitching also had a rough time.”
Around this time last year, the Jackets faced off against the Saints and it was a very cold and snowy day. The Yellow Jackets were swept in the doubleheader by final scores of 5-0 and 9-1, respectively.
Waynesburg continued to battle with the Saints for the first three innings of the first game, before giving up four runs in the deciding fourth inning. Thomas More picked up one more run in the top of the seventh to close out the win.
Then-senior left fielder Katey Potopenko and then-freshman Cat Allstatt had two hits each in the first contest. In her first year with the team, Courtney Messenger took the loss in the circle after giving up nine hits and three walks in the complete-game effort. Messenger picked up three strikeouts in her first of two starts on the day.
Thomas More scored a run in the first inning and three more in the second to secure all the offense it needed for the win in game two. Waynesburg put its first run on the board in the bottom of the fourth when then junior catcher Mackenzie Smith singled in Potopenko.
Messenger took the loss in the contest after yielding four runs, three of which were earned, on five hits over two innings of work. She was the first of three Jacket pitchers to toe the rubber in the finale.
Then-freshman first baseman Alex Lawrence recorded two of her team’s four hits in the six-inning affair. Coming into the matchup this year, there is a player that stands out above all the others, and that is Lawrence. Coming into the game, Lawrence is batting .424 and leads the team in almost every offensive statistic.
“Lawrence is having a fantastic year,” said Hall. “She is starting to make her mark in the PAC, she is on pace to have a great year.”
According to Hall, the team entering into the game against the Saints on Saturday, April 8, is prepared.
“The team is ready for the matchup, and I feel that if all of our pieces come together the rest of the season, then we should be fine down the stretch,” said Hall. “I feel that if our bats continue to stay hot we will be in great shape for the rest of the season.”