Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University softball team came up just short in an 11-inning setback to Kent State to open the day before darkness forced the second game of the doubleheader to be called before it reached a conclusion Tuesday afternoon in non-conference action at a warm North Athletic Complex.

The Golden Flashes took the opener, 4-3, in extras before the nightcap was called as a 2-2 tie after seven full innings due to a lack of light.

Junior Chelsea Siar (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) had a productive day offensively as she reached base five times. Siar was 3-for-6 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch and also launched a mammoth homer in Game Two. She had her 22nd career multi-hit game in the nightcap as well as her 15th career long ball.

Freshman Ashley Gerhart (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) reached base four times as she was 2-for-6 with a pair of walks and a run scored on the day. Gerhart, who had her team-leading eighth multi-hit game in the nightcap, has now reached base safely via a hit or a walk in 20 of the past 21 games in which she has played.

RMU's string of allowing three runs or fewer in 17 consecutive games came to an end in the opener although the Colonials had yielded just two runs in the regulation seven frames before allowing two more in extras.

After each team went in order in the first inning of the opening game, junior Geena Badolato (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) worked around a double in the second by getting a groundout to end the top half.

After an error, a steal and an infield single, Kent State had runners on the corners in the third, but Badolato got a groundout to Siar at third to end the threat.

With RMU again going in order in the third, the Golden Flashes broke through in the fourth, by nailing a homer a few feet over the fence in right center.

Sophomore Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) was hit by a pitch with two down in the bottom half to start a rally. Siar followed by lining a single into left before senior Maritza Jimenez (Vineland, N.J. / Vineland) came through in the clutch by lining a RBI single to right. Freshman Lauren Hackett (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) was then hit by a pitch to load the bases, but a groundout left the sacks full.

A leadoff homer in the fifth to left center put Kent State back on top, 2-1.

Gerhart worked an eight-pitch walk with two down in the fifth but would not advance.

Badolato got a pair of consecutive strikeouts to leave a runner on in the sixth. Apke lined the first pitch of the bottom half into left for a solid single. Siar then put down a sacrifice before the sophomore moved to third on a passed ball. Jimenez came through again by dumping another opposite-field single into right to tie the game. Hackett followed with her own opposite-field single, but RMU would be unable to take the lead.

A walk, an infield single and a passed ball gave the Golden Flashes a golden opportunity to take the lead with runners on second and third and zero outs in the seventh. After a lineout to shortstop, junior Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) fielded a grounder at second base and fired to the plate where sophomore Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) cut down the run by applying the tag. Badolato then induced a groundout to the right side to keep the contest tied.

Gerhart reached second base with two away in the seventh after a sacrifice by Evans, but a flyout sent the game to extras.

A leadoff hit by pitch amounted to nothing for Kent State in the eighth, and the Colonials went down in order in the home half.

Each side went 1-2-3 in the ninth inning.

With international tiebreaker rules in effect beginning in the 10th, Kent State sacrificed its runner to third with one out, but a groundout followed by a flyout kept the Golden Flashes off the board.

RMU would follow suit and was also unable to bring home its runner in the home half.

Kent State finally broke through in the 11th after a single and, two outs later, a hit batter loaded the bases. With a 1-2 count on the batter, she just got enough of a pitch to bloop it in very shallow right field, just out of reach of the Colonials, to score a pair of runs.

Siar was hit by a pitch to start the bottom half, and sophomore Alexis Schwartzmiller (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) then sacrificed both runners along. Hackett followed with a sacrifice fly to right, also moving Siar to third, but a lineout to left ended the game.

Badolato went the distance in the opener, firing all 11 frames, while allowing nine hits and three earned runs. She issued just one free pass in the contest while throwing the most innings in a single game by a Colonial pitcher in the last 11 years.

Jimenez had both a multi-hit game and a multi-RBI effort in the opener, each one of which represented the 12th of her career in that category.

The second game of the twin bill would have the same score after seven innings as the first, but the teams would be unable to play to the end.

Sophomore Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough) struck out two batters in a 1-2-3 first.

Gerhart singled to lead off the bottom of the first and moved to second on a groundout. After an error put runners on the corners, the Colonials tried to execute a double steal, but the lead runner was thrown out at home.

Sleith retired the side in order in the second before Jimenez earned a leadoff walk. After Hackett sacrificed the runner to second, a strikeout and a flyout ended the inning.

Sleith again sent the Golden Flashes down in order in the third. An error by the visitors and a sacrifice by Gerhart put a runner on second with one away, but a flyout and a groundout left the game scoreless.

Kent State was given an unearned run in the fourth after a leadoff walk was followed by a throwing error on a ground ball that let runners advance multiple bases. With a run in and a runner on third and zero outs, Sleith escaped further damage by getting a groundout, a strikeout and a flyout to minimize the damage.

Siar got the run right back in the home half by blasting the first pitch of the inning well beyond the fence in right center.

A walk, a wild pitch and a single into center put Kent State right back on top in the fifth although Sleith would once again strand a runner in scoring position.

Senior Jessica Tanigawa (Marysville, Wash. / Marysville-Pitchuck) was hit by a pitch with one out in the fifth, and Gerhart followed with a walk. With two away, a botched grounder by Kent State on the infield allowed Gerhart to score all the way from second on the play to tie the game. Siar would then walk to load the bases, but a groundout ended the threat.

Hackett gunned down a runner trying to steal in the sixth before Sleith ended the frame with a strikeout.

A two-base error and a wild pitch gave the Colonials a runner on third with two outs in the home half, but a groundout left things tied.

Sleith retired the side in order in the seventh, and the Colonials would be painstakingly close to winning it in the bottom half.

Gerhart singled into left to start the frame, and Schwartzmiller would then reach base after putting down a bunt attempt that was not cleanly handled. Apke then singled hard up the middle into center, but Gerhart would be thrown out at the plate on a nice throw from the Kent State outfield. Siar followed by singling to left to load the bases, but an infield fly and a flyout to left would end the inning and, as it turned out, the game.

Sleith gave up just two hits and one earned run in the complete game while striking out seven batters. Her streak of consecutive innings without allowing an earned run finally came to an end at 34.2 innings.

It was the first tie for Robert Morris since a March 24, 2005 tie against Dayton, a contest which also occurred at home.

RMU has this coming weekend off before it resumes action in one week's time. Robert Morris will next be in action Tuesday, April 16, when it makes up a postponed Northeast Conference (NEC) doubleheader at Saint Francis.