Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University softball team grabbed an early lead against Monmouth, but the Hawks rallied to claim a 5-2 victory in a Northeast Conference (NEC) Tournament elimination game Friday afternoon at an overcast North Athletic Complex.
Freshman Ashley Gerhart (Imperial, Pa. / West Allegheny) had a strong offensive day to complete an award-winning rookie season. Gerhart was 3-for-4 with a run scored and a RBI, tallying her 13th multi-hit game and her fourth three-hit outing, both marks which led the team. She finished with a .347 batting average and a .424 on-base percentage. Her batting average sits as one of the top 25 single-season marks at RMU and is also the fifth highest batting average by a Colonial in her first season with the team.
Freshman Haileigh Stocks (Jamison, Pa. / Central Bucks South) was 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI against the Hawks. Her two-bagger moved her into a tie for eighth in single-season doubles at Robert Morris and helped her pace the squad in both RBI (24) and slugging percentage (545) this season.
An infield single was all Monmouth could muster in the first, and the Colonials went right to work in the bottom half.
Gerhart led off with a single down the left field line and moved to second on a groundout. Stocks then nailed a single to center on a line to bring home her classmate.
The Hawks took a one-out walk in the second, but RMU then used some strong defense to end the frame. Sophomore Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) raced toward the line in right to stab a sinking liner and then fired to first on the run to double off the runner.
Each of the next two half-innings was of the 1-2-3 variety.
Monmouth tied the game and then took the lead in the fourth as it scored two unearned runs on a pair of Colonial miscues and a hit.
After RMU went down in order in the home half, Monmouth added a run in the fifth as a leadoff walk, consecutive groundouts and an infield single brought home a runner.
Sophomore Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) led off the fifth with a single into left. With two down, Gerhart ripped a double into the left center gap to plate pinch-runner Jessica Tanigawa (Marysville, Wash. / Marysville-Pitchuck).
Monmouth added two big insurance runs with a two-run blast in the top of the sixth.
Stocks led off the home half by ripping a double off the fence in left in the air, but she would not come all the way around.
Trailing by three entering the bottom of the seventh, RMU tried to put together one last rally. Freshman Kristen Gabelt (Ligonier, Pa. / Ligonier Valley) singled with one out, and Gerhart would single with two down to bring the tying run to the plate. However, Robert Morris was unable to find a last-minute clutch hit and saw its season come to an untimely close.
Despite its miscues Friday, Robert Morris still broke the single-season team record for fielding percentage in 2013 as the Colonials posted a .971 mark on the year.
RMU's 31 home runs this season tied for the fourth highest such figure in single-season history.
The Colonials reached the 30-win mark for the second straight year in 2013, marking just the second time in program history, and first since 1992, that RMU has won 30 games in back-to-back seasons.
