Moon Township, Pa. - After trailing by six runs in the fourth inning, the Robert Morris University softball team orchestrated a spectacular rally, which was capped when sophomore Chelsea Siar (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) drilled a lined shot over the fence in left center to help the Colonials to a 12-11 victory over Fairleigh Dickinson in the nightcap of a Northeast Conference (NEC) doubleheader Sunday afternoon at the North Athletic Complex.
The Knights had previously taken a much quieter opening game by a score of 2-0.
FDU looked like it was well on its way to a sweep as it opened up a 9-3 lead after three and one-half innings, but the Colonials came roaring back. Robert Morris managed to even the game, 9-9, but the Knights once again moved on top in the fifth, 11-9. With RMU down to its final five outs, freshman Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) drilled an absolute bomb to left center that evened the game before Siar put RMU ahead for good one out later.
The second game of Sunday's DH marked the first time since the opening day of the 2006 season that the Colonials rallied from a six-run deficit to come back and post a victory.
In addition to Apke and Siar, senior Jaci Timko (Houston, Pa. / Chartiers Houston) and freshman Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) both homered in the nightcap for RMU, marking the first time since April 15, 2006 that the Colonials had at least four long balls in a league game. RMU also now has multiple games this season with at least four homers, which is the first such occurrence since 2006.
Siar notched her seventh multi-hit game of the season and 16th of her career in the nightcap as she blasted her ninth-career homer. Apke notched her fifth homer of the season in her 49th at bat and now has three multi-hit games and three multi-RBI games in the team's last six outings.
Timko finished the day 2-for-6 with a walk, a season-high three runs scored and two RBI. Her fourth-career game with three runs gave her 116 for her career, which leaves her just two shy of matching RMU's all-time record. Timko's 16th career multi-RBI game moved her into a tie for eighth in that category with 77 as she also moved into sole possession of second place in career homers with 22. She has now reached base in a team season-high 13 straight games and moved her career hit total to 178.
Santillo's fourth homer in the last eight days gave the rookie her team-leading eighth multi-hit game of the season and the sixth multi-RBI game of 2012.
Junior Britta Grafton (Jamestown, Pa. / Jamestown) led RMU offensively in hits as she went 3-for-6 with a triple, a double, two RBI and a run scored. Grafton, who posted her second triple in the past three weekends, notched her 17th career multi-hit game and her 11th career multi-RBI in the nightcap.
RMU jumped on top in the first inning when sophomore Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville) singled up the middle and Timko launched a two-out shot to center. Santillo and Apke both followed the homer with singles, but the pair was left stranded.
The second inning was the only complete frame in which neither side scored, but FDU turned the game around in the top of the third. The Knights tallied four unearned runs in the third to take a two-run lead although the Colonials were able to strand two runners on base.
Santillo was the lone baserunner to reach in the third for RMU, but she blasted a shot to left center to plate a run.
FDU tore the game open in the fourth as it posted five runs on four hits, a walk and an error.
Trailing by a half dozen runs, RMU responded in a big way in the bottom half. Sophomore Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) got it all started by beating out a single to shortstop before Siar sent a hard grounder through the right side. Grafton then knocked a triple down the right field line, and she soon came home when redshirt senior Jessica Calderone (Wilmington, Del. / St. Mark's) singled up the middle into center. Show followed with a walk, and after an out and an error, Santillo walked with the bases loaded to bring home a run. After the inning's second out, a miscue by the Knights brought home two runs, which tied the game.
FDU surged back ahead in the fifth as it used an infield hit and a walk in advance of a double to move ahead, 11-9.
After going down in order in the fifth, the only 1-2-3 half-inning of the game, Robert Morris found its bats again in the sixth. Timko walked to open the inning before Apke launched the first pitch of her at bat to deep left center to tie it up. After a groundout, Siar roped a 2-2 pitch to the left of center field to put RMU on top.
The Knights got a one-out single in the seventh, and the runner moved to second on a wild pitch, but freshman Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough) was able to get a popup and a three-pitch swinging strikeout to finish off the wild contest.
Hits and runs were much harder to come by in the first game.
Sleith worked around a double by FDU in the first before Show reached on an error with one out in the bottom half. Show subsequently stole second, but she was left there after a pair of strikeouts.
Neither side moved a runner past first base in either the second or third innings, but FDU would score the game's only runs in the fourth.
After a leadoff single down the line in left, FDU then put down a well-placed bunt, which eluded the Colonial defense for long enough for the Knights to get runners on second and third with no outs. After a strikeout, a single down the left-field line scored both runners.
Show worked a leadoff walk in the bottom half and moved up to second on a sacrifice, but she was left there.
Robert Morris had its best chance of the game in the sixth when Grafton drilled a leadoff double to right center. Show reached on an infield single one out later to put two runners on base, but a fielder's choice and a strikeout ended the chance.
Timko singled with one out in the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate, but RMU was unable to bring anyone around to score before it made the final two outs.
Sleith was the tough-luck loser in the opener as she went the distance and allowed just the two runs while striking out nine against just one walk. In her last five starts, Sleith has tallied 39 strikeouts against just five walks.
With Calderone's RBI single in Game Two, she moved into a tie for third in all-time hits at RMU with 179. Calderone also moved into the top 10 in career games played Sunday (176) and broke the Colonials' career record for assists as she finished the day with a new program-record 348.
After finishing the weekend with a wild victory, Robert Morris will take a step out of league play this Wednesday, April 4, when it travels to Kent State for a doubleheader. The first pitch of the opener is set for 3:00 p.m.
