Hackensack, N.J. - The Robert Morris University softball team closed out its 2008 regular season Sunday afternoon with a sweep of Fairleigh Dickinson at FDU Softball Field in Hackensack, N.J. The Colonials posted a 16-0, five-inning game one victory before garnering the sweep with an 8-1 win in the second game.
RMU, which will enter the 2008 NEC Tournament as the No. 2 seed, finishes its regular season with an overall record of 28-18, including a 15-3 mark in league play.
Robert Morris jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first inning of game one thanks to five hits and a pair of Knight errors. Freshman Jessica Calderone (Wilmington, Del. / St. Marks) opened the game with her third home run of the season, and junior Lauren Nisivoccia (Nutley, N.J. / Mount St. Dominic) followed by reaching base on an error by FDU second baseman Hope Hilman.
Three batters later freshman Annie Dubovec (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston) singled to center to drive in Nisivoccia with RMU's second run of the inning.
Robert Morris followed with singles from junior Susan Perich (Center, Pa. / Center) and senior Camille Kline (Titusville, Pa. / Titusville), with Kline's single driving in both Dubovec and Perich. Kline reached third base on her single after an error by Knight center fielder Brianne Benedict. Junior Kristin McDaniel (Yardley, Pa. / Pennsbury) drove in the final run of the inning with a double to right center, scoring Kline.
The Colonials added two more runs in the top of the third inning to take a 7-0 lead when freshman Kayla Crooks (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Brashear) supplied a two-run single to drive in Perich and senior Brenna Reed (Carnegie, Pa. / Montour).
Seven more runs would cross the plate for RMU in the top of the fourth inning on the strength of six hits. Perich produced a two-run double, while freshman Stacy Yusko (Portage, Pa. / Penn Cambria), McDaniel and Nisivoccia hit RBI singles and Crooks a sacrifice fly.
In the top of the fifth Robert Morris plated two more runs, as Perich and McDaniel hit RBI doubles to give the Colonials a 16-0 lead. Reed did the rest from the pitching circle, allowing just one hit on the afternoon, striking out six and issuing one free pass.
Perich and McDaniel each had perfect days at the plate in game one, as Perich finished 4-for-4 with four runs and three RBI, while McDaniel finished 3-for-3 with a run and three RBI. Calderone finished 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and an RBI, while Reed improved to 12-9 on the year in the circle.
In the nightcap Robert Morris grabbed a 1-0 lead in the top of the second inning, as an RBI single from junior Stacy Davidson (Akron, Ohio / Springfield) scored Kline, who had produced a one-out single. The Knights knotted it up, 1-1, in the bottom of the third inning off Colonial starter Lindsey Moates (Ocala, Fla. / Forest), as Megan Dougherty's RBI single drove in Justina Augustine with the tying run.
RMU broke the game open in the top of the fifth with three runs to take a 4-1 advantage. Calderone hit a one-out single to center, then stole second base. Fairleigh Dickinson Trina Fields then walked McDaniel, and junior Brooke Panepinto (Belle Vernon, Pa. / Belle Vernon) followed with her eighth home run of the season. The Colonials added another run in the top of the sixth thanks to an RBI single from Calderone, and three more runs in the top of the seventh inning gave RMU an 8-1 lead.
McDaniel opened the frame with a double down the left field line, and Panepinto followed with her second round tripper of the afternoon to push the Colonials in front, 7-1. Nisivoccia added an RBI single later in the inning to score RMU's final run of the afternoon.
Moates allowed nine hits in game two but yielded just one run, striking out eight and not walking a batter. She improved to 14-5 on the year with the win. Panepinto paced an offense that saw six Colonials register multi-hit games, finishing 2-for-4 with two runs and five RBI.
Robert Morris is next in action Thursday, May 1, when it travels to Washington, Pa., for an exhibition game against the U.S. National Team at Consol Energy Park, home of the Washington Wild Things. First pitch is slated for 7:30 p.m., and the game is sold out.
Notes: The pair of home runs by Panepinto in game two give her a team-high nine on the season and tie her for second in the Colonial single-season record book with former Colonials Kali Byers and Ashlee Smith ... Panepinto also moved into sole possession of second place in the RMU career records for home runs with 19 ... The trio of home runs hit by Robert Morris in the doubleheader against the Knights pushed the program's total on the year to 36, a new team record ... The Colonials hit 34 home runs as a club in 2006 ... The last time RMU finished with as few as three losses in league play came in 2005 and 2006, when the club posted a 17-3 NEC record ... If the season ended today, RMU's fielding percentage of .969 would establish a new team record.
