Moon Township, Pa. - Continuing the trend of solid home play, the Robert Morris University softball team once again put up two wins at the North Athletic Complex on Wednesday afternoon. The Colonials needed only five innings in the first contest to retire the Akron Zips by a score of 8-0. In the second game, RMU had to come from behind to capture the, 8-6, victory.
Robert Morris opened with four runs in the first inning thanks to two hits and two errors allowed by the Zips. Jessica Calderone (Wilmington, Del. / St. Marks) and Sarah Capp (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour) highlighted the inning with their RBI singles to jump-start the Colonial offense.
In the second, RMU added another tally when Kayla Crooks (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Brashear) doubled to lead off the inning. Sophomore Allie Patton (Poland, Ohio / Poland) also doubled with two outs to bring home Crooks.
The Colonials tacked on a lone marker in the third off a Maritza Jimenez (Vineland, NJ / Vineland) double, and finally capped off the scoring in the fifth as fellow freshman Britta Grafton (Jamestown, Pa. / Jamestown) also notched a two-bagger to drive in the seventh and eighth RMU runs.
Getting the start in the circle was Annie Dubovec (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston), who pitched her first shutout-win of the season. In five innings of work, the junior retired five and walked one batter.
The second game got off to a much slower start as Robert Morris scored one in the first inning.
The Zips finally got on the board in the top of the third with a home run to center field. However, the Colonials immediately got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Jaci Timko (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers-Houston) scored off a Grafton single.
Akron added another run in the fourth, but again RMU answered with an additional pair to make the score, 4-2, still in RMU's favor.
In the top of the sixth, the Zips exploded with a four-run outburst as they took their first lead of the afternoon.
Heading into the bottom of the sixth down 6-4, the Colonials rallied with a four-run, six-hit frame to seal the win. Calderone and Dubovec both notched RBI singles, while Capp doubled to left center to send home the final two scores.
Sophomore Alexa Bryson (Greensburg, Pa. / Greater Latrobe) struck out eight and allowed 10 hits as she pulled off her tenth win of the year
The Colonials, now 14-12 and 4-1 in conference play, return to NEC action on Saturday and Sunday as the team heads east to match up with Quinnipiac and Sacred Heart.
