Moon Township, Pa. - After an intentional walk brought her to the plate, sophomore Maritza Jimenez's (Vineland, N.J. / Vineland) clutch, two-out single drove in junior Allie Patton (Poland, Ohio / Poland) with the winning run as the Robert Morris University softball team claimed its third walkoff win in its past five home games with a 3-2, extra-inning victory over visiting Sacred Heart in the opener of a Northeast Conference (NEC) doubleheader on a very windy Sunday afternoon at the North Athletic Complex.
The Pioneers would respond by taking the nightcap, 10-7, despite an early RMU lead.
Junior Alexa Bryson (Greensburg, Pa. / Latrobe Area) went the distance in the opener, tossing all eight frames while allowing just six hits and two runs. She recorded five strikeouts without walking or hitting a single batter and threw 73 of her 98 pitches for strikes.
Senior Kayla Crooks (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Brashear) led the RMU offense with her third-career three-hit game as she went 3-for-4 with two doubles, a RBI and a run scored. Crooks was also absolutely crucial defensively as she made multiple diving grabs from her spot in left field, each one seemingly more impressive than the last.
After a scoreless first inning in Game One, Sacred Heart had a chance to pull ahead in the second when it had runners on first and second with one out and then second and third with two outs, but Bryson got a weak wave for strike three to end the frame.
Freshman Chelsea Siar (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) started a RMU rally in the home half with one out when she ripped a single off the jumping third baseman's glove. With two away, Crooks came through by placing a double down the right field line that scored Siar sliding into home while the senior took third on the throw. Freshman Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville) promptly doubled the lead by sending a single through the left side to easily score Crooks and put RMU up 2-0.
Bryson got a 1-2-3 top half, and the Colonials put two runners on with one out in the third, but Siar smoked a liner right to the second baseman to end the inning.
The Pioneers caught a break in the fourth when their second batter of the inning struck out but reached first since the pitch was low and bounced away. Sacred Heart took advantage with a two-out double to center to cut the lead in half, but the Colonials executed a nice 8-6-5 relay to retire the batter who was trying to stretch it into a triple.
RMU loaded the bases with two outs in the fourth as Crooks and Patton both singled in the inning while redshirt junior Jessica Calderone (Wilmington, Del / St. Mark's) walked, but Sacred Heart was able to strand three runners with a force out.
After a quiet fifth, Sacred Heart tied it in the sixth by getting hits from three of its first four hitters of the inning. With the go-ahead run on second and one out in the inning, Crooks came through with a huge diving catch in left for the second out before Jimenez fielded a grounder cleanly to end the threat.
Show singled with one out in the sixth, but she would not advance. Bryson sent down the Pioneers in order in the seventh courtesy of another diving catch by Crooks, a strikeout and a foul pop.
Robert Morris had a great opportunity to win it in the home half of the seventh when two singles and a fielder's choice loaded the bases with no outs, but the Pioneers got three straight ground balls to send the game to extras.
Bryson worked around a two-out miscue by RMU in the eighth to give her offense another chance to win it, and they took advantage this time.
Crooks led off with a hard double to left center that nearly ended the game by clearing the fence. Show followed by successfully putting down a sacrifice, sending Crooks to third. Patton then reached on a fielder's choice as Crooks was thrown out trying to score the winning run on a grounder to second. Calderone kept the inning alive with a single to right, sending Patton to third. With two outs and second base open, the Pioneers elected to intentionally walk senior Annie Dubovec (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston), who was 2-for-4 with a double, to pitch to Jimenez. The sophomore made Sacred Heart pay by shooting the ball just to the left of the second base bag and into center to send the Colonial bench into celebration.
Along with Crooks and Dubovec, Calderone (2-for-3 with a walk), Show (2-for-3 with a RBI, a sacrifice and a steal) and Siar (2-for-4 with a run) all collected multi-hit games in the opener as the Colonials piled up 13 hits against just six for the visitors.
With Patton aboard to lead off the first inning in Game Two, Dubovec launched a one-out blast that cleared the fence in left center by plenty to give Robert Morris an early two-run edge.
Sacred Heart would come storming back, though, as it responded with a five-run second, helped in large part by a three-run homer to right.
RMU got out of the third with a tidy 1-6-3 inning-ending double play, but the Colonials were unable to score any runs in the second, when junior Jaci Timko (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers Houston) led off the frame with a single, or the third, when Dubovec drew a one-out walk and went to second on a wild pitch.
Show threw out a runner at the plate for the second out of the fourth, appearing to help RMU escape a jam, but the following Pioneer hitting came up big by drilling a three-run shot to right to push the lead to 8-2.
Robert Morris refused to give in, though, and came right back with a trio of its own in the home half. Timko sharply singled to left with one out before freshman Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) also went the other way, shooting a single to right to put runners on the corners. A Pioneer error on a forceout attempt kept the rally going as Timko scored without a play. With two on and two out, Calderone came through in a big spot by ripping a triple into right center to cut the lead back to three runs.
After both teams brought back their Game One starting pitchers, each side went in order in both the fifth and sixth, leaving the Pioneers ahead by three entering the seventh. A single and a homer started the final frame for the Pioneers and provided Sacred Heart with a few key insurance tallies.
Robert Morris still refused to go quietly into the night as Patton, Calderone, Dubovec and Jimenez started the inning with four consecutive hits to pull the Colonials within three and bring the tying run to the plate. Sacred Heart made a big play by getting a 5-3 double play for the first two outs of the inning to halt the Colonial momentum. Crooks kept the RMU hopes alive by walking to again bring the tying run to the plate, but a 3-4 groundout ended the finale.
Dubovec went 2-for-3 with a walk, three RBI and a run in the nightcap to record her 10th multi-hit game of the season. She moved her career RBI total to 81 and is now tied for sixth all-time at RMU in that category.
Calderone also went 2-for-3 with two RBI, a run and a sacrifice and kept pace with Dubovec by notching her 10th multi-hit game of the year while Timko went 2-for-4.
Robert Morris recorded 10 hits in the nightcap to register back-to-back games with double-figure hit totals for the third time this season. RMU hitters went a combined 23-for-66 (.348) with five extra-base hits and registered a .394 on-base percentage against Pioneer pitching.
Robert Morris currently sits in third place among teams eligible for the NEC Tournament as their conference mark of 9-5 trails the league-leading record of 8-4 by percentage points.
RMU will start a stretch of three doubleheaders in four days this Wednesday, April 20, when they host the only non-conference double-dip of the trio. The Colonials will welcome St. Bonaventure Wednesday with the first pitch set for 3:00 p.m.
