Badolato becomes the first Colonial to win any league award in back-to-back weeks since 2005 and is also the first-ever RMU student-athlete to claim two of the first four NEC Rookie of the Week honors in softball.

In addition, with freshman infielder Chelsea Siar (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) having earned the rookie award in the first week of the season, Robert Morris becomes the first school in league history to win three of the first four rookie honors in a single season.

Badolato also becomes the third active Colonial to have received multiple NEC weekly rookie honors. In her lone start of the week, she got the call against Big East foe Georgetown Saturday and did not disappoint. Despite pitching in a closely-contested game, the rookie was unfazed as she held the Hoyas without an earned run and did not walk or hit a single batter. That continued a trend for the freshman of limiting opponents when she takes the ball to open the game for RMU. In her last six starts, Badolato sports a 1.44 ERA and a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio, having walked only three batters over 39 innings (with no hit batters as well). Furthermore, in all six games, Badolato has been strong enough to go the distance as she has not yielded to a reliever in any of those half dozen contests.

Badolato, who also is now the fifth active RMU player to have claimed multiple weekly NEC awards in any category, also came on in relief Sunday against Ball State and threw four quality innings--she held the eventual Radford Invitational Champions to just one run and allowed just a lone hit to the 15 batters she faced.

This second selection for Badolato marks the fifth occasion in which a Colonial has been honored by the NEC this season, the most among all league schools, even though RMU has only played in three distinct weeks this season. Along with Siar, junior Jaci Timko (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers Houston) and senior Annie Dubovec (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston) were named NEC Player of the Week and NEC Co-Pitcher of the Week in the first and third conference releases, respectively. Robert Morris has also now claimed nine of the past 24 weekly rookie honors dating to March 2009, a notable figure in an 11-team league.

Badolato and her teammates will finally get to play their home opener Tuesday, March 22, after playing their first 21 contests away from home. RMU will welcome cross-town rival Pittsburgh to the North Athletic Complex for a 3:00 p.m. doubleheader just four days after the squads needed the international tie-breaker to settle an extra-inning affair. The Colonials will host a doubleheader against Youngstown State Wednesday afternoon before commencing with NEC play this weekend as they travel to Monmouth and Fairleigh Dickinson.