Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Newark, Del. – The Robert Morris University softball team started the day off by getting back in the win column as the Colonials took down Delaware, 5-1, on the second day of play at the University of Delaware Invitational at a mostly sunny UD Softball Stadium.
 
RMU dropped its second contest of the day as it lost a slim lead on St. John's and dropped a 3-2, walk-off decision.
 
Junior Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough) pitched the Colonials to a win over the Blue Hens by allowing five hits and a lone run in a complete-game effort. She struck out 10 Delaware batters and did not walk a single one. It was her third-consecutive appearance with double-digit strikeouts, an effort that helped her notch her 50th career win.
 
Senior Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) reached base safely in four of her six plate appearances on the day. She was 2-for-3 and added a walk, a hit-by-pitch, a sacrifice, a steal, a RBI and two runs scored.
 
RMU fell behind against the host but would soon rally back and pull ahead.
 
Sleith set down the side in order in the top of the first with two strikeouts and a popup. Evans was hit by a pitch with one out in the bottom of the frame and moved to second with two down, but a fielder's choice ended the inning.
 
Delaware got its first baserunner via a Colonial miscue to start the second, but with one out, junior Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) gunned down a pinch-runner trying to steal to help keep the Blue Hens off the board in the frame.
 
Sophomore Kristen Gabelt (Ligonier, Pa. / Ligonier Valley) singled with one down in the second, but a well-struck lineout and a strikeout kept the game scoreless.
 
A leadoff single, a sacrifice and a two-out single allowed Delaware to strike for a run in the third inning.
 
RMU would answer back in a big way in the bottom half. Senior Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville) got it all started by roping a line drive to left for a standup double. Freshman Jordan Gurganus (Chesapeake, Va. / Hickory) followed with a single to put runners on the corners and then promptly stole second. Evans then executed some small ball by putting down a squeeze to score Show to tie the game. Santillo kept the line moving by nailing a hard single into left to put runners on first and third. The Colonials then traded an out for a run as a caught stealing at second base allowed Evans to race home and score. Junior Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) got the frame restarted by smacking a line drive over the left fielder's head for a double. Sophomore Haileigh Stocks (Jamison, Pa. / Central Bucks South) then came through with a single to center to score the Colonials' fourth run of the frame.
 
Sleith worked around a two-out bloop single to register a key shutdown inning for RMU.
 
After RMU went down in order, Delaware had a solid chance in the fifth as it used a single and an error to put two on with one away. After a groundout moved both runners into scoring position, Sleith got a key swinging strikeout to maintain the three-run edge.
 
Evans started the bottom half by lining a single to right and was promptly moved to second on a sacrifice by Santillo. With two away, a throwing error allowed the veteran to come home with an insurance run.
 
Sleith then worked around a hit batter in the sixth. Freshman Stacey Capp (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour) lined a single to right center to start the bottom half and eventually got to third with two outs after a single by Gurganus, but RMU would not add on any further.
 
Delaware tried to mount a rally by starting the seventh with a triple, but Sleith retired the next three hitters on an infield popup, a strikeout and a groundout to seal the victory.
 
Apke's two-bagger was the 22nd of her career, moving her into the top 10 in career doubles at RMU. Gurganus' multi-hit outing in the opener was her team-leading sixth of the season.
 
The second game of RMU's day was a back-and-forth affair that found the Colonials trailing at the end of the contest.
 
Each of the game's first three half-innings went in order.
 
St. John's tried to take the lead in the bottom of the second as it used a pair of walks and then a two-out infield single to load the bases, but a soft lineout on the infield ended the frame.
 
Capp walked to start the third inning and stole second with two away but would be stranded there.
 
The Red Storm took the lead in the home half of the third with a pair of hits although Evans did catch a runner stealing to end the frame.
 
Robert Morris came right back to take the lead in the top of the fourth. Evans walked to start the rally. After a fielder's choice and an error, RMU had a runner on second with one down. Apke then ripped a single to left on a full count and promptly stole second. Stocks then laced an opposite-field single to right to tie the game. Stocks would then take off for second and was caught stealing, but Apke came through the back door on the plate to give the Colonials the lead.
 
A two-out infield single in the bottom of the fourth for St. John's amounted to nothing as Evans caught another runner stealing.
 
After RMU went down in order in the fifth, St. John's would load the bases with two infield singles and a walk with one out. A ground ball was then hit sharply to the left side, but Show made a nice backhand stop and fired a bullet home that a stretching Evans caught to force the lead runner. However, St. John's would then poke a single to center to tie it before a groundout ended the frame.
 
Evans dumped a single to center with one away in the sixth but a double play quickly ceased the RMU chance.
 
St. John's got a leadoff single followed by a sacrifice in the sixth, but a fly out and a strikeout ended the frame.
 
RMU was unable to take the lead in the top of the seventh. The game seemed destined for extra innings with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom half, but a walk followed by a double to the fence in left allowed the Red Storm runner to cross the plate before the Colonials had time to get the ball home.
 
By appearing in both games Saturday, Show moved into the top 10 in career games played at RMU (178). Stocks' RBI single was the 50th base hit of her career.
 
The Colonials will look to end the tournament on a high note when they play two games Sunday. They will play back-to-back contests, against Cornell and Villanova, in the morning.