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Robert Morris University Athletics

Softball

Dubovec Drills Grand Slam, Records Win

Moon Township, Pa. - Senior Annie Dubovec (Chagrin Falls, Ohio / Kenston) drilled her second-career grand slam and pitched five innings to record the win to help the Robert Morris University softball team set a season high for runs with a 12-9 victory over visiting St. Bonaventure in the nightcap of a non-conference doubleheader on a cloudy and windy Wednesday afternoon at the North Athletic Complex.

St. Bonaventure took the opener, 7-3, while the second contest was called on account of darkness in the middle of the sixth inning.

Junior Katrina Gallagher (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon McMillan) combined to reach base five times Wednesday by going 4-for-6 with a walk, a double, three RBI and three runs scored. She was a key factor offensively in the nightcap as she recorded her first-career three-hit game and also picked up her third multi-RBI contest of the season.

Dubovec went 3-for-6 on the day with a sacrifice while junior Allie Patton (Poland, Ohio / Poland) also notched a trio of hits, walked once, scored four runs and collected an RBI.

Freshman Geena Badolato (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) collected RMU's first save of the season by retiring all three batters she faced in Game Two to preserve the win.

St. Bonaventure jumped out on top right away in Game One by using three hits and two hit batters to stake a 3-0 lead. Despite the early deficit, the Colonials were able to strand Bonnie runners at second and third to help limit the damage.

Robert Morris got one right back in the bottom half when Patton led off with an infield single, advanced to second on a sacrifice by freshman Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville) and came around to score when sophomore Maritza Jimenez (Vineland, N.J. / Vineland) sent a two-out single back up through the middle.

RMU had single hits in both the second and third, but they did not amount to anything, and the Bonnies then added to their advantage in the fourth with a three-run homer to right.

After two were gone in the home half of the fourth, RMU started a rally courtesy of a Bonnie miscue. Sophomore Britta Grafton (Jamestown, Pa. / Jamestown) followed with a single before Gallagher ripped the first pitch she saw into the gap in right center for a double, scoring both runners.

The Bonnies added an unearned tally in the fifth to set the final margin as the Colonials could generate little offensively over the final three frames.

Robert Morris took out its frustration from the opener in Game Two as the Colonials overwhelmed the Bonnies by jumping out to an 11-0 lead after three innings.

After St. Bonaventure was sent down by two strikeouts and a groundout in the first, Patton again led off the bottom half with an infield hit. She promptly stole second and advanced to third on a passed ball before Gallagher lined a full-count single into left to plate the game's first run. Dubovec then put down a successful sacrifice before Jimenez worked a seven-pitch walk. Senior Kayla Crooks (Pittsburgh, Pa. / Brashear) collected a run-scoring single to center to make it 2-0 before an outfield error by St. Bonaventure allowed Jimenez to score. Junior Sarah Capp (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour) then reached on an infield single, and Crooks came around to score on the play when the shortstop's throw for a force attempt was off target.

Robert Morris sent down the Bonnies in order in the second and added a fifth run when Gallagher worked a nine-pitch, one-out walk, went to second on a single ripped into left by Dubovec, took third on a wild pitch and scored on a deep fly ball to center by Jimenez.

St. Bonaventure was again unable to post a hit in the third, and the Colonials then broke it open in the home half. Grafton reached on an error to start the inning before freshman Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) walked and sophomore Jessica Tanigawa (Marysville, Wash. / Marysville-Pitchuck) singled one out later. Patton earned a RBI with a seven-pitch walk before Gallagher again lined a hard single into left to score Evans.

St. Bonaventure then elected to change pitchers, but Dubovec did not greet the new hurler kindly. After redshirt junior Jessica Calderone (Wilmington, Del / St. Mark's) had verbally suggested that the senior hit a grand slam during the pitching change, Dubovec obliged by belting an opposite-field shot to right center to give RMU a double-digit lead.

It was the first grand slam for RMU at home since Dubovec's first-career grand slam, which also doubled as her first-career homer, April 19, 2008 in a 7-2 victory over Monmouth. It also marked the first time since March 2006 that any Colonial hit a grand slam in a regular-season non-conference game.

St. Bonaventure refused to go away, though, as the Bonnies kept fighting over the next three frames. They added four in the fourth, two unearned, with one tally scoring on a groundout, one on a single, one on a walk and one on a fielder's choice. The Bonnies only had one hit in the fifth, but added two runs in part due to a walk, an error and a passed ball.

RMU put up its 12th run in the fifth when Patton and Gallagher led off the inning with singles and moved up on a wild pitch. One out later, Jimenez put down a fine squeeze bunt that scored Patton without a play at the plate.

The Bonnies pulled within three with a three-run shot to right, but once Badolato came on, she shut the door in the sixth with a soft lineout that she grabbed herself, a strikeout and a groundout. With daylight fading, the game was then called.

The 12-run total marked RMU's best in its past 74 games overall and its best in a non-conference game since March 18, 2005.

With her dinger and four RBI, Dubovec moved into a tie for fifth in all-time program history in both categories with 16 career long balls and 85 RBI as she registered her fourth-career four-RBI game.

Patton scored a career-high three runs in the nightcap while Gallagher matched her career-best with three. Capp collected her second multi-hit game of the season in the nightcap with a 2-for-3 effort.

The Colonials will have a quick turnaround as they are scheduled to play two key Northeast Conference (NEC) doubleheaders Friday and Saturday, April 22 and 23. RMU is set to host Mount St. Mary's Friday at Noon before traveling to Saint Francis (Pa.) Saturday afternoon.

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