Box Score

Los Angeles, Calif. – The Robert Morris University softball team got strong efforts from up and down the lineup as it defeated Western Kentucky, 5-0, in its final game of the Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament Sunday morning at Easton Stadium.
 
RMU used a brilliant pitching performance and got multiple hits from four different players in taking down the Hilltoppers, a 2013 NCAA Tournament participant and winner of the regular-season Sun Belt Conference title a year ago.
 
Junior Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough) led the Colonials in the circle by tossing a three-hit shutout against Western Kentucky. She did not walk or hit a batter and notched six strikeouts while throwing 77 of her 102 pitches for strikes. It was her third shutout in five starts this season and the 14th overall in her career.
 
Junior Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) helped the RMU offense break it open by drilling a three-run homer in her second time at bat. The blast was her first of the season and the eighth of her career. She notched her 11th multi-RBI game in the process and her third with at least a trio of runs batted in.
 
Junior Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) and sophomores Kristen Gabelt (Ligonier, Pa. / Ligonier Valley), Ashley Gerhart (Imperial, Pa.  / West Allegheny) and Haileigh Stocks (Jamison, Pa. / Central Bucks South) each tallied two hits on the day. Apke added a walk to reach base three times while the other three each nailed a double to the outfield fence.
 
Apke singled to open the game and, one out later, Stocks lined a sharp single to the opposite field. However, Apke would be thrown out trying to reach third base with one out on the play, and then a strikeout ended the frame.
 
After each of the next two half-innings went in order, WKU tried to start a rally with a one-out double in the second. Sleith would notch a strikeout for the second out before getting a groundout to strand the runner in scoring position.
 
Apke dumped a single into left with two outs in the third but would not advance any further.
 
The Hilltoppers had their best chance of the game in the third as they used an infield single, a fielder's choice and a sacrifice to put a pair of runners in scoring position. However, Sleith extinguished the flames by striking out the WKU three-hitter swinging on four pitches.
 
Stocks drilled the first pitch of the fourth inning off the wall in center for a double. Gabelt followed by fighting off a 1-2 pitch and sending it into center for a single to put two runners on base. Santillo then opened the scoring by nailing a three-run homer on a rocket of a line drive that carried over the fence in left center. She worked hard for the long ball as it came on the 10th pitch of her at bat after she had initially been down in the count 0-2. Gerhart nailed an opposite-field double off the fence down the line in left one out later to try and restart a rally, but a pair of fly outs would close the inning.
 
Each of the next three half-innings were of the 1-2-3 variety.
 
Gabelt started the sixth by shooting a 2-0 offering up the gap in right center for a standup double. After Santillo reached base on a wild pitch on strike three, a steal gave RMU a pair of runners in scoring position. One out later, Gerhart put down a gorgeous squeeze bunt along the third base line that not only scored her classmate but also allowed her to reach first with a single. Gerhart and pinch-runner Ajariee Seigel (Millerstown, Pa. / Greenwood) then successfully executed a double steal to score RMU's second run of the inning. Sophomore Lauren Hackett (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) kept the line moving by dumping a single into right center and then stole second immediately. With two outs, Apke worked a full-count walk to load the bases, but a popup ended the frame.
 
Western Kentucky tallied a leadoff single in the bottom of the sixth, but she would represent the final base runner of the game. Sleith retired the final six batters she faced, three by way of the K, to seal the victory.
 
Apke's multi-hit game was her second of the season and the 21st of her career. Gabelt's multi-hit outing was her second of the season and the eighth of her career. Gerhart's was her first of the season and the 14th of her career while Stocks' was her team-leading third of the season and eighth of her career.
 
RMU's four extra-base hits were a season high and are tied for the most by the Colonials in their past 22 games.
 
The Colonials will return to action next weekend as they play two games Saturday, Feb. 22, and two more Sunday, Feb. 23, at an event hosted by Charlotte.