Pittsburgh, Pa. - On the verge of dropping the nightcap of its doubleheader to Pittsburgh, the Robert Morris University softball team rallied for four runs in the seventh inning and held on for a 5-4 victory over its local BIG EAST rival Wednesday evening at a very warm Vartabedian Field.
The Colonials, who clinched their second straight outright regular-season conference title this past Sunday, dropped the opener of the doubleheader, 3-1.
With the come-from-behind victory, Robert Morris notched its 32nd win of the season, which tied for second-highest total in school history, and is just two off the school record. The victory was the second one over a BIG EAST school this season for Robert Morris as it previously defeated Georgetown at the UMBC Spring Classic in March.
Senior Sarah Capp (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour) led the offensive effort for Robert Morris as she went 4-for-7 on the day with a double, a RBI and a run scored. She had a pair of multi-hit performances to move into eighth place in single-season hits at RMU (58) and into sole possession of fourth place in single-season RBI (37). Capp, who also slid up into the top 10 in career doubles (22), notched her team-leading 12th and 13th multi-hit outings of the season and the 28th and 29th of her career.
Freshman Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) went 3-for-7 with a run scored to help the Colonial cause, including tallying her sixth multi-hit game of the season in the nightcap.
Robert Morris fell behind early in the opener and would be unable to respond. After Capp's two-out single amounted to nothing in the first, the Panthers got a leadoff homer in the bottom half on a full count. The next batter doubled to left, but sophomore Geena Badolato (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) settled down and retired the heart of the Panthers' order to strand the runner in scoring position.
Pittsburgh added to its lead in the second when it scored a run on three hits, two of which were of the infield variety.
RMU had a chance in the third when sophomore Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) was hit by a pitch and redshirt senior Jessica Calderone (Wilmington, Del. / St. Mark's) lined an opposite-field to right, but a strikeout ended the threat.
The Panthers tallied their final run in the fourth on a leadoff homer although Badolato would again leave another runner in scoring position.
Evans singled with two down in the fifth but would not advance. RMU got on the board in the sixth when Capp knocked a single to right before freshman Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) drilled a double into the left field corner that allowed the veteran to come all the way around and score. Apke followed with a single to put two aboard but a strikeout and a caught stealing ended the inning.
Freshman Alexis Schwartzmiller (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) notched a pinch-hit single in the seventh to bring the tying run to the plate, but a groundout ended the game.
Capp doubled with two outs in the first inning of Game Two but would be stranded. Pitt got a runner to second with one out in the bottom half, but freshman Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough) got a groundout and a swinging strikeout to end the chance.
RMU took the lead in the second when Apke opened the inning with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice by junior Britta Grafton (Jamestown, Pa. / Jamestown). Schwartzmiller followed with a single to left, sending Apke to third, and then she promptly took off for second. Pitt's throw down to second was off the mark, which allowed Apke to run home. RMU would have runners on second and third with one out but could not add on.
Pittsburgh scored twice in the bottom half with a hit by pitch, a double and a single, all of which were with two outs.
The Colonials went down in order in the third, and Pitt added an unearned run in the bottom half with two outs.
Apke lined a single into center to start the fourth and advanced to second on a sacrifice, but a strikeout and a groundout stopped the opportunity. Senior Allie Patton (Poland, Ohio / Poland) started the fifth with a single but three consecutive groundouts did not produce anything for RMU.
Pitt added one insurance run in the sixth when a triple and a single started the frame, but the lead proved not to be enough against the comeback Colonials.
After a pair of errors started the seventh, Calderone came on to pinch hit and knocked a single into left to load the bases. After a force out at the plate, senior Katrina Gallagher (Canonsburg, Pa. / Canon McMillan) ripped the first pitch of her at bat into the left center gap for a bases-clearing double. Capp then came through with a single into right center, plating her classmate, to give RMU the lead. Santillo also followed with a single, but a groundout and a strikeout finally brought RMU's turn to a close.
Pitt got a one-out single in the bottom half and moved its runner to second on a sacrifice, but Sleith notched a swinging strikeout to close out the win.
The victory was Sleith's 23rd of the season, which moved her just one shy of matching the single-season school record. Sleith, who now has 120 strikeouts against just 14 walks in her past 16 starts, also moved into sole possession of fifth place in single-season strikeouts at RMU with 221.
Calderone moved into a tie for fourth in all-time runs scored (102) when she came racing home on Gallagher's double.
Patton moved into the top five in career games played at Robert Morris with 181.
Gallagher registered her second game with at least three RBI in the Colonials' past nine contests.
RMU has also now won at least one game in each of its last two trips to Pittsburgh.
Robert Morris will have little time to rest as it will be right back at it tomorrow as it closes its regular season with another non-conference matchup Thursday, May 3. The Colonials will travel west to take on Youngstown State with the first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
