Westminster Reaches PAC Softball Tournament Title Game

Will Play Winner of Allegheny/Waynesburg for Championship

5/3/2024 9:45:00 PM

NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (pacathletics.org) - Top seed and host Westminster College moved within one victory of a conference title with a 7-4 triumph over two-time defending champion Waynesburg University in the winner's bracket final to highlight day two action at the 2024 Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) Softball Tournament.

Every game of the 2024 PAC Softball Tournament will once again be live streamed by our friends at the PAC Sports Network. To access the broadcasts, just click the link above.

With their win Friday, the Titans (24-10) advance to Saturday afternoon's championship game at 1 pm. They will await the winner of the Allegheny College/Waynesburg tilt at 11 am, with that winner needing to beat Westminster twice to come away with the PAC crown. If a third game is necessary Saturday, it would start at 3 pm.

Game E - Grove City 8, Geneva 5
In the opening game of the day, Geneva (26-16) took a 1-0 lead in the last of the third inning, but the Wolverines broke open the game by scoring all eight of its runs in the top of the fourth inning. Grove City freshman pitcher Abigail Meadors (Warren, Ohio/Champion) started and ended the outburst, first with a game-tying double that scored junior first baseman Brooke Brodie (Mogadore, Ohio/Mogadore). After the Wolverines scored two on bases-loaded walks and a third on a sacrifice fly, Brodie stroked a bases-loaded triple to score three and then she came home on a Meadors single for an 8-1 Grove City lead. 

The Golden Tornadoes would chip away at the deficit, first with a two-single by freshman Molly Shelley (Baltimore, Md./Sparrows Point) in the fourth and then a two-run double by sophomore Madison Rapp (Irwin, Pa./Penn-Trafford) in the seventh, but Meadors finished her complete game by getting a lineout after the Rapp double, which sent the Wolverines into the late afternoon elimination game. Meadors picked up her 12th win of the year with the complete game, as she struck out seven.

Meadors also led Grove City at the plate with three hits and knocked in two, while Brodie finished with a pair of hits and three RBIs. For Geneva, Shelley went 3-for-4 out of the leadoff spot with a pair of RBIs.

Game F - Allegheny 3, Bethany 2
The second elimination game of the day started when Bethany used an RBI bunt to score in the first, but Allegheny answered with their own squeeze bunt to plate the tying run in the second. The game remained tied until the fifth when the Gators struck for a pair. Sophomore Samantha Phillips (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mount Lebanon) hit an RBI single for the go-ahead run and later in the frame, an Olivia Devries (Kent, Ohio/Field) single to center scored Phillips to make it 3-1.

The 3-1 lead was in place in the seventh when Bethany immediately threatened with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners. After a pair of outs, a throwing error not only allowed the Bison to score and make it 3-2, but also put the tying run on third base. The next batter hit a liner to shallow center field, but senior Hadley Horensky (Jefferson Hills, Pa./Seton LaSalle) charged in and made a sliding catch to seal the playoff win.

Earning the win in the circle for the Gators, who claimed their first playoff win since 2013, was freshman Madison Hulse (San Diego, Calif./Rancho Bernardo), as she allowed just one earned run while striking out four in the complete game. Devries had two of Allegheny's six hits and knocked in what proved to be the winning run. For the Bison (25-14), graduate student Morgan Huey (Hermitage, Pa./Hickory) was 2-for-4 and junior Mary Marshall (Steubenville, Ohio/Steubenville) drove in one.

Game G - Westminster 7, Waynesburg 4
Westminster jumped in front with a pair of runs in the first inning of the winner's bracket final, but Waynesburg drew even with RBI doubles in the third and fourth innings. The Titans then seized control in the third inning, as five straight batters reached safely to start what turned into a five-run inning for the Titans. Five different Westminster hitters collected RBIs in the frame, including run-producing singles by graduate student Madison Brown (Lisbon, Ohio/East Liverpool) and junior Mia Meholick (Dubois, Pa./Dubois Central Catholic) and freshman Leah Taliani (Arnold, Pa./Valley) ripped her first career triple to plate one, as the Titans took a 7-2 lead.

Waynesburg (21-17) would mount one last rally in the seventh, getting two runs home and loading the bases to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. But Brown, who threw the first six innings for the Titans before being relieved to start the seventh, re-entered and got a lineout to second for the final out. That sent the Titans to the PAC Championship Game for the third consecutive year and ended Waynesburg's eight-game PAC Tournament winning streak, which dated back to their first title run in 2022.

In addition to earning the pitching win with 6 1/3 innings of work while allowing just two runs, Brown also had two hits and knocked in a pair. Senior Liz Malczak (Grove City, Pa./Grove City) had a pair of hits as well and scored twice. The Yellow Jackets line-up had senior Ella Brookman (Washington, Pa./Chartiers-Houston), junior Grace Higgins (Canonsburg, Pa./Canon-McMillan) and senior Emma Bliss (Uniontown, Pa./Laurel Highlands) all collected two hits, while Higgins also scored twice and junior Breanna Rice (Morgantown, W.Va./Morgantown) knocked in a pair.

Game H - Allegheny 3, Grove City 2
All the scoring in this game was done in the first and third innings. In the opening frame, Brodie knocked in the Wolverines' initial run with a single, but in the last of the first, a throwing error allowed the Gators' first run to come home to make it 1-1. In the third, Grove City (25-17) reclaimed a 2-1 lead when freshman Evelyn Montone (Allentown, Pa./Parkland) singled in senior Lauren Harris (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny), who also scored the Wolverines' initial run in the first.

Rain came in the third inning and forced a 60-minute delay, but once action resumed, Allegheny took the lead for good in the bottom of the third. Phillips tripled to start the frame before a Devries double drove her home to tie the game. Later in the inning, a Grove City error, one of four in the contest, brought Devries home and gave Allegheny a 3-2 lead.

That lead was enough for Allegheny junior starter Aleya Belardinelli (Melbourne, Fla./West Shore), who allowed just two hits over the final four innings to preserve the lead and give the Gators their second elimination game victory of the day. Belardinelli scattered eight hits and allowed two runs, one earned, in posting the complete-game victory, while the Gators' bats were again led by Phillips, who had two of her team's four hits and scored twice. On the Grove City side, Harris racked up three hits and scored twice in the loss.

Of the teams left in the field, Westminster is in search of their second PAC title and first since 2005. Allegheny (26-11), who left the PAC for the North Coast Athletic Conference prior to the first official PAC softball title being awarded in 1985, is seeking their first PAC crown. With their consecutive PAC titles, Waynesburg is trying to win their fourth overall in program history and become the first PAC team to claim three championships in a row since Bethany won six straight from 1999-2004.

The winner of this year's championship tournament title will secure the league's automatic qualifying bid to the Division III Softball Championship, with teams and regional site selections announced on Monday, May 13. Regional round play is scheduled for Friday-Sunday, May 17-19 and the Super Regionals will be played Friday-Saturday, May 24-25.  

 
2024 PAC Softball Championship Tournament
Hosted by Westminster College--New Wilmington, Pa.
Note: Times may be adjusted based on weather
Thursday, May 2 (at Westminster)
10 a.m. Game A: No. 4 Grove City 3, No. 5 Bethany 2
12 p.m. Game B: No. 6 Waynesburg 7, No. 3 Geneva 6
2 p.m. Game C: No. 1 Westminster 5, No. 4 Grove City 3
4 p.m. Game D: No. 6 Waynesburg 5, No. 2 Allegheny 4
Friday, May 3 (at Westminster)
9 a.m. Game E: Grove City 8, Geneva 5
11 a.m. Game F: Allegheny 3, Bethany 2
1 p.m. Game G: Westminster 7, Waynesburg 4
3 p.m. Game H: Allegheny 3, Grove City 2
Saturday, May 4 (at Westminster)
11 a.m. Game I: Allegheny vs. Waynesburg
1 p.m. Game J: Championship Game
Westminster vs. Game I winner
3 p.m. Game K: If Necessary Game
Monday, May 6 (at Westminster)
TBD Rain date