Brooklyn, N.Y. - The Robert Morris University softball team carried over its momentum from last weekend's 5-0 performance by cruising to a doubleheader sweep of long-time Northeast Conference (NEC) power Long Island Saturday at LIU Field as RMU took the opener 8-2 before claiming the nightcap 10-3.
The Colonials continued their offensive onslaught from the end of last weekend as they banged out 22 hits and 18 runs to start strong in conference play. With Saturday's effort, Robert Morris has now scored at least eight runs in four consecutive games for the first time since April of 1998. RMU has also now scored at least 14 combined runs in each of its last four doubleheaders. Nine distinct Colonials had a RBI and scored a run Saturday.
Redshirt senior Jessica Calderone (Wilmington, Del. / St. Mark's) led RMU offensively as she went 5-for-9 with a double, four runs scored and a pair of RBI. Calderone had a fantastic Game One as she went a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate to become just the 15th Colonial ever and the fourth active player to notch a quartet of hits in a single contest. Calderone's fifth multi-hit game of the season, and the 47th of her career, helped catapult her into a tie for fourth in career hits at RMU with 173.
Calderone also tied her career high with three runs scored in Game One. She has now scored at least one run in a career-best six straight games and has moved into ninth in career runs scored (92).
Senior Jaci Timko (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers Houston) notched two hits and two walks Saturday while scoring a trio of runs. With that performance, Timko moved into sole possession of second place at Robert Morris in career runs scored with 110 as she sits eight shy of matching the all-time school record. Timko claimed her sixth multi-hit game of the season and the 51st of her career in Game Two, which also moved her career hit total to 173, matching Calderone's in a tie for fourth.
Senior Sarah Capp (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour) went 3-for-8 with a homer and five RBI on the day to continue her recent power surge. Capp has now homered on each of the last three days on which the Colonials have competed and also has a 3-RBI game on each of those days. She notched the 21st multi-hit game of her career in the nightcap to extend her career-best hitting streak to 10 games. Capp also has now collected a RBI in each of the last six games, a career high, but in five of those outings she has actually posted a multi-RBI effort. She has 16-career multi-RBI games, four of which have been 3-RBI efforts.
Sophomore Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville) drilled her third extra-base hit in three games as she went 3-for-6 with a triple, three RBI, a run scored and a sacrifice. Show's second-career triple helped her collect her seventh-career multi-hit game. Show also had her second three-RBI outing in the last three games.
Freshman Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) went 3-for-8 with a RBI and knocked the first extra-base hit of her career when she sent an opposite-field double to right center in Game One. She followed that effort up with her third multi-hit game of the season in the nightcap.
While the RMU offense stayed busy putting bunches of runs on the board, freshman Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough) did her part in the circle as she earned both wins on the day for the Colonials. She threw a combined 10.2 innings while allowing just three runs, only two of which were earned, and notching 12 strikeouts.
RMU jumped out on top in a hurry to open the day as it scored a trio of runs in each of the first two frames to take a 6-0 lead after just two innings.
Calderone singled to open the game, and Timko walked one out later, which put two runners on base for Capp's blast that cleared the fence in left. After Sleith worked around a hit in the bottom half, helped by some strong defensive plays, Robert Morris got right back to work in the second.
Santillo doubled to right center to open the frame and senior Katrina Gallagher (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon McMillan) walked on a full count, putting two runners aboard. Calderone then ripped a lined double into the gap in left center that scored both runners. Senior Allie Patton (Poland, Ohio / Poland) then fought off an 0-2 pitch and singled into center, which scored a sliding Calderone.
Neither side could do much in the next two half-innings before LIU got its first run in the bottom of the third on a pair of hits and a walk. However, the Blackbirds had a chance to do further damage with runners on second and third, but Sleith got a swinging strikeout to get out of danger.
RMU responded right back in the fourth when Gallagher and Calderone notched consecutive singles with one out before Timko walked with two down. A Blackbird error then allowed two more runs to come home as the Colonials widened their lead.
LIU would get its final run of the game in the fifth when a two-out double scored a Blackbird that had walked.
Show and Calderone both singled in the sixth, but RMU couldn't break through another time. The Blackbirds then put their first two aboard in the sixth, but Sleith sent down the next three in order to keep the score the same.
Junior Britta Grafton (Jamestown, Pa. / Jamestown) was the lone baserunner in the seventh, thanks to a sharp single to right, as Sleith got the Blackbirds 1-2-3 to close out the opener.
The first game marked Sleith's fourth complete-game victory in her last four starts and also served as Calderone's 10th career multi-RBI game.
It took Robert Morris just slightly longer to break it open in the nightcap.
Patton reached second base in the top of the first but was stranded there. LIU started strong in the bottom half as it put its first two on base, but the Colonials got out of trouble with a fielder's choice and 5-3 double play that sophomore Chelsea Siar (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) jumpstarted.
Grafton reached via a Blackbird miscue to open the second and advanced to third on a sacrifice by Siar and a groundout. Show then put RMU on top as she knocked her in with a two-out infield single.
After LIU went in order in the second, Robert Morris broke it open in the third with six runs on six hits. Patton got it started with one out with a sharp single to center. Timko followed by drilling a single to right and Capp plated the first run with an opposite-field single. A Blackbird error then loaded the bases, and Siar followed with a full-count walk to make it 3-0. Santillo drove one home with a hard single into left before Show launched a two-run triple to right as one runner was cut down at the plate. Gallagher put the finishing touches on the inning with a RBI single up the middle that scored Show.
RMU used another double play to get out of a potential jam in the third, but LIU would finally get on the board with a two-run homer in the fourth. A two-out single by Santillo accounted for the only baserunner of the fifth before RMU again put up a crooked number in the sixth.
Gallagher reached on an error to start the frame, and Calderone then singled into left. After Patton put down a successful sacrifice, Timko drove home Gallagher with a single to left. Capp and Grafton each followed with RBI singles to right and center, respectively, that made it 10-2.
LIU was down to its final strike in the sixth before they were able to grab an unearned run that forced another inning.
The Blackbirds put two runners on in the seventh, but Sleith got consecutive strikeouts to end the game.
The pair of victories gave RMU four-consecutive wins against the Blackbirds, which is its longest streak since 1998-99.
RMU also turned a pair of double plays in the same game for the second time this season.
After sweeping its first NEC twinbill, Robert Morris will look to keep its momentum going as it completes the weekend with two more league matchups. The Colonials will meet Wagner Sunday at Noon for a doubleheader.
