GREENVILLE, Pa. (pacathletics.org)--Second-seeded Waynesburg University won its first Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Softball Championship Tournament title since 1993 with a 3-1 victory over top-seeded Westminster College Sunday afternoon in New Wilmington. 

Westminster (31-6) hosted the double-elimination tournament Thursday and Sunday, May 5 and 8 in New Wilmington. 

Sunday's appearance in the tournament's title round was the first for Waynesburg (27-9) since 2008. The Jackets were the first No. 2 seed to win the PAC title since Thomas More University in 2015. 

As the winner of this year’s championship tournament title, Waynesburg secured the league's automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Softball Championship. Forty-three conferences have been granted automatic qualification (Pool A) for this year's championship. Teams and regional site selections will be announced on Monday, May 9. Regional round play is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, May 13-15. The Super Regionals will be played Friday-Saturday, May 20-21. The eight teams advancing from the Super Regionals will participate in the Division III Championship finals, slated for Thursday-Tuesday, May 26-31 at Moyer Sports Complex in Salem, Virginia. 
 

Sunday, May 8

PAC Championship Tournament [Game H] No. 2 Waynesburg vs. No. 1 Westminster Westminster Field--New Wilmington, Pa.

Result: Waynesburg 3, Westminster 1 Box score

Freshman Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. | Clay Battelle) earned her third victory in the championship tournament Sunday... She was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Performer... Wilson allowed one run (1 earned) on eight hits with six strikeouts and a walk in the complete-game effort... She posted a 1.33 ERA with 12 strikeouts and three walks in 21.0 championship tournament innings... Scoreless through five innings, Waynesburg struck for three runs in the sixth... Sophomore Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. | Chartiers-Houston) doubled to right center to score junior Brin Hunter (West Alexander, Pa. | McGuffey)... Junior Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio | Granville) doubled to left to score Brookman befores sophomore Sydney Senay's (Canonsburg, Pa. | Canon-McMillan) single to center scored Benschoter... Waynesburg strung together five-straight hits with two outs... Junior Lexi Yates (Oakdale, Pa. | South Fayette) drilled an RBI single to right in the bottom of the sixth to score junior Brooke Atkins (New Castle, Pa. | Laurel) and cut Waynesburg's lead to two, 3-1... Hunter and Brookman went 2-for-3... Junior Ashley Wire (Poland, Ohio | Poland) and Yates both had two hits for Westminster... Senior Madison Brown (Lisbon, Ohio | East Liverpool) took the loss for Westminster, allowing three runs (3 earned) on six hits with three strikeouts in 5.2 innings.

 

Sunday, May 8

PAC Championship Tournament [Game G] No. 4 Saint Vincent vs. No. 1 Westminster Westminster Field--New Wilmington, Pa.

Result: Westminster 8, Saint Vincent 7 Box score

Junior Abbegail Froehlich (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Plum) helped guide Westminster to a spot in the tournament's title round Sunday after working 3.0 relief innings... She allowed one run (1 earned) on seven hits... It was Froehlich's second victory this season... Saint Vincent jumped out to a 4-0 lead after two innings... Senior Abbey Ginter (Homer City, Pa. | Homer Center) smacked a three-run home run in the first inning... It was her league-best 10th home run of the spring... Sophomore Jessica LaPorte (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Keystone Oaks) had an RBI single in the second... Westminster plated five runs in the fourth to nab a 5-4 lead... Sophomore Emily Malczak (Grove City, Pa. | Grove City) keyed the five-run frame with a two-run single... LaPorte hit a two-run home run in the top of the fifth to give Saint Vincent a 6-5 lead... Junior Mackenzie Latess (New Castle, Pa. | Laurel) led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run to tie the game at 6-6... Junior Emma Gurley (Painesville, Ohio | Gilmore Academy) had a two-out, run-scoring double to put Westminster back in front 8-6... Sophomore Alexandra Dillner (Irwin, Pa. | Norwin) had a two-out RBI single in the top of the sixth to trim the Saint Vincent deficit to one, 8-7... Sophomore Haley Bicko (Johnstown, Pa. | Greater Johnstown) took the loss, allowing three runs (3 earned) on five hits in 1.2 relief innings... LaPorte went 4-for-4 with a double, a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored... She hit .563 in the championship tournament... Bicko, the starter at second base for Saint Vincent, was 3-for-4 with a pair of runs scored... Junior Brooke Atkins (New Castle, Pa. | Laurel), Latess, junior Lexi Yates (Oakdale, Pa. | South Fayette) and Gurely each finished with two hits apiece.

 

Thursday, May 5

PAC Championship Tournament [Game F] No. 2 Waynesburg vs. No. 1 Westminster Westminster Field--New Wilmington, Pa.

Result: Waynesburg 4, Westminster 1 Box score

Waynesburg, moving on to the title round for the first time since 2008, is looking for the program's second PAC title... The Jackets won the league in 1993... Freshman Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. | Clay Battelle) logged her second victory of the day, allowing one run (1 earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts and a walk... It was her league-leading 17th win of the season... Up 2-0 following a run-scoring single by junior Brin Hunter (West Alexander, Pa. | McGuffey) and a RBI groundout by junior Reghan Benschoter (Newark, Ohio | Granville) in the first, Waynesburg tacked on two more runs on a two-run Benschoter double in the third to take a 4-0 lead... Junior Ashley Wire (Poland, Ohio | Poland Seminary) poked a run-scoring single in the seventh for Westminster's lone run... Sophomore Elizabeth Malczak (Grove City, Pa. | Grove City) suffered the loss, allowing four runs (3 earned) on five hits in 2.2 innings... Senior Madison Brown (Lisbon, Ohio | East Liverpool) limited Waynesburg to four hits in 4.1 scoreless relief innings... Junior Brooke Atkins (New Castle, Pa. | Laurel) finished 3-for-4.

 

Thursday, May 5

PAC Championship Tournament [Game E] No. 4 Saint Vincent vs. No. 3 Bethany Westminster Field--New Wilmington, Pa.

Result: Saint Vincent 3, Bethany 2 (8 inn.) Box score

Scoreless after seven regulation innings, sophomore Alexandra Dillner (Irwin, Pa. | Norwin) drilled a two-run single in the top of the eighth and sophomore Jessica LaPorte (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Keystone Oaks) scored on a throwing error later in the play to stake Saint Vincent to a 3-0 lead... Bethany freshman Haley Eyler's (Waynesboro, Pa. | Waynesboro) RBI single scored junior Morgan Huey (Hermitage, Pa. | Hickory) to cut the lead to 3-1...  Eyler later scored on sophomore Josie Wise's (Canton, Ohio | Perry) sacrifice fly... It was the first extra innings game in the championship tournament since May 7, 2017 when No. 2 Westminster defeated No. 4 Thiel 4-3 in eight innings in Game E... Freshman Olivia Bushore (Claysburg, Pa. | Claysburg-Kimmel) picked up the complete-game victory, allowing two runs (2 earned) on nine hits with two strikeouts and two walks... Freshman Katelyn Stokan (Venetia, Pa. | Peters Township) finished 3-for-4 for Saint Vincent... Huey and Eyler had two base hits apiece for Bethany... Sophomore Josie Wise (Canton, Ohio | Perry) fell to 15-7 this spring in the circle... She allowed three runs (2 earned) on eight hits with five strikeouts and a pair of walks in 8.0 innings.

 

Thursday, May 5

PAC Championship Tournament [Game D] No. 1 Westminster vs. No. 4 Saint Vincent Westminster Field--New Wilmington, Pa.

Result: Westminster 7, Saint Vincent 0 Box score

Senior Madison Brown (Lisbon, Ohio | East Liverpool) fired a seven-hit shutout in Westminster's Game D win... She pushed her record to 15-2 this spring with the win... Westminster plated a pair of runs in the bottom of the first to grab a 2-0 lead... Junior Leah Pancake's (North Lima, Ohio | Beaver Local) two-out, two-run triple in the second capped a four run frame and pushed Westminster's lead to 6-0... Junior Ashley Wire's (Poland, Ohio | Poland Seminary) RBI triple in the sixth gave Westminster a 7-0 lead... Junior Brooke Atkins (New Castle, Pa. | Laurel) went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored... Brown was 2-for-3 with a double and a run scored... Sophomore Jessica LaPorte (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Keystone Oaks) and senior Mary Maceda (Leesburg, Va. | Tuscarora) each had two hits for Saint Vincent... Freshman Olivia Bushore (Claysburg, Pa. | Claysburg-Kimmel) took the loss, giving up six runs (4 earned) on five hits with two strikeouts and two walks.

 

Thursday, May 5

PAC Championship Tournament [Game C] No. 3 Bethany vs. No. 2 Waynesburg Westminster Field--New Wilmington, Pa.

Result: Waynesburg 3, Bethany 2 Box score

Thursday's Game C victory was Waynesburg's first in the championship tournament since 2008... Up 1-0 in the sixth, sophomore Sydney Senay (Canonsburg, Pa. | Canon-McMillan) blasted a one-out, two-run home run to extend the Jackets' lead to 3-0... Freshman Sydney Wilson (Pentress, W.Va. | Clay Battelle) improved to 16-4 in the circle, allowing two runs (2 earned) on two hits with three strikeouts and a walk... She did not surrender a hit until junior Morgan Huey's (Hermitage, Pa. | Hickory) one out base hit in the seventh... Sophomore Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa. | Chartiers-Houston) went 2-for-3 with a double, a triple and a run scored... Wison was 2-for-2 with a walk... Senior Paige Allen (Washington, Pa. | Avella) ripped a two-out, two-run single in the seventh for Bethany... Sophomore Josie Wise (Canton, Ohio | Perry) allowed three runs (3 earned) on nine hits with six strikeouts and a walk... Wise set the Bethany single season record in Game C with her 178th strikeout this spring.

 

Wednesday, May 4

PAC Championship Tournament [Play-in game B] No. 5 Grove City vs. No. 4 Saint Vincent Saint Vincent Field--Latrobe, Pa.

Result: Saint Vincent 10, Grove City 2 (5 inn.) Box score

Senior Abbey Ginter (Homer City, Pa. | Homer Center) went 2-for-3 with two home runs, a career-high six RBIs and a pair of runs scored to power the Saint Vincent offense against Grove City... Saint Vincent scored 10 runs on 14 hits in the five-inning victory... Sophomore Olivia Persin (Greensburg, Pa. | Hempfield) finished 3-for-4 with a double and three runs scored... Sophomore Jessica LaPorte (Pittsburgh, Pa. | Keystone Oaks) was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored... Freshman Olivia Bushore (Claysburg, Pa. | Claysburg-Kimmel) earned the win, allowing two runs (2 earned) on five hits with five strikeouts... Graduate student Hannah Dietz (Allison Park, Pa. | Hampton) gave Grove City a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the first inning... Saint Vincent plated three runs in the bottom of the frame and followed up with two more in the second, four in the fourth and a single run in the fifth... Junior Janessa Dawson (Zanesville, Ohio | Tri-Valley) took the loss, allowing eight runs (6 earned) on 10 hits with a pair of strikeouts in 3.1 innings.

 

Wednesday, May 4

PAC Championship Tournament [Play-in game A] No. 6 Geneva vs. No. 5 Grove City Saint Vincent Field--Latrobe, Pa.

Result: Grove City 5, Geneva 0 Box score

Sophomore Kaitlyn Constantino (Clarion, Pa. | Clarion) fired a two-hit shutout against Geneva... She struck out three and walked one over her 7.0 innings, improving to 7-6... Grove City snagged a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first... Sophomore Emily Smyth (Lititz, Pa. | Manheim Township) hit a two-out, two-run double in the second to give Grove City a 4-0 lead... Smyth finished 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs... Senior Lexy Buck (Akron, Ohio | Lake Center Christian) went 1-for-2 with a double, a walk and run scored... Sophomore Julia Hart (Prospect, Pa. | Slippery Rock) and junior Danielle Goodman (Glen Burnie, Md. | Calvary Baptist) had base hits for Geneva... Junior Haley Smith (Joshua Tree, Calif. | Yucca Valley) suffered the loss, allowing five runs (4 earned) on six hits with nine strikeouts and three walks.