Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Moon Township, Pa. – The Robert Morris University softball team got contributions from across the board as it closed the non-conference portion of its schedule with a sweep of St. Bonaventure on a crisp Thursday afternoon at the North Athletic Complex.
 
RMU held on to win the opener, 6-4, before running away for an 8-0 victory in six innings to close the day.
 
Sophomore Haileigh Stocks (Jamison, Pa. / Central Bucks South) supported the Colonial cause with her bat and her arm in the nightcap. In addition to blasting a two-run homer, her first of the season, Stocks worked all six innings while allowing four hits, all singles, and zero runs. She struck out four while yielding no runs in a start for the third time this season.
 
Sophomore Ashley Gerhart (Imperial, Pa.  / West Allegheny) led Robert Morris in hits on the day as she was a combined 4-for-5 with a walk, a sacrifice, a RBI and two runs scored. Gerhart, who added an outfield assist on the day, tallied her second three-hit outing of the season, and the sixth of her career, with a 3-for-3 effort in the opening game Thursday.
 
Senior Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) made significant contributions with her bat in the nightcap while just missing pulling off an exceptional feat on the field. She was 3-for-3 with two runs, a RBI and two steals in the second game Thursday, posting her first three-hit game of the season and the second of her career. In that contest, Evans also played eight different defensive positions. She was set to play her ninth and final position, catcher, in the seventh inning but was unable to do so since the game ended via run rule. However, Evans did catch the entire first game, so she still managed to play all nine defensive positions during the course of the doubleheader.
 
Robert Morris jumped ahead early in the opening game and built a sufficient cushion to hang on for the win.
 
St. Bonaventure used a Colonial miscue and a single to put two runners on in the top of the first with one out. Senior Geena Badolato (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) dug in and proceeded to get a groundout back to the circle followed by a swinging strikeout to end the threat.
 
Gerhart and freshman Jordan Gurganus (Chesapeake, Va. / Hickory) started the bottom half with consecutive singles to right to put runners on the corners. After a steal by Gurganus, junior Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) hit a liner to left that turned into a sacrifice fly to score the game's first run. With two away, Gurganus stole third and came around to score on a sharp single up the middle by senior Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville), the 100th hit of Show's career.
 
After Badolato retired the side in order in the second, sophomore Kristen Gabelt (Ligonier, Pa. / Ligonier Valley) lined a single into right center to start the home half. Junior Alexis Schwartzmiller (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) then nailed a double into the left field corner, but RMU was unable to add on to its lead.
 
The Bonnies used an infield single and a hit batter to threaten in the third, but Badolato got consecutive swinging strikeouts to end the frame.
 
Just like the first inning, Gerhart and Gurganus both singled to begin the third. Apke followed by drilling a lined single to left to load the bases. A pair of passed balls helped the Colonials double their lead. With two down, Gabelt singled to left to score Apke before Schwartzmiller knocked her second double in two innings, this time to the opposite field, to plate Gabelt.
 
St. Bonavanture only had one runner reach in the fourth.
 
Sophomore Ajariee Seigel (Millerstown, Pa. / Greenwood) singled with one down in the fourth, and Gerhart followed with her third hit of the day to put two aboard, but a groundout and a fly out would follow.
 
An infield single by the Bonnies was all either side would post in the fifth inning.
 
St. Bonaventure used three hits, including an infield single, and two walks to score four times in the sixth. RMU then went down in order in the bottom half.
 
The Bonnies tried to mount a tying rally in the seventh as a hit batter and an error put the first two runners on base. After a sacrifice advanced both runners, Badolato induced a groundout for the second out before freezing the final batter with strike three to keep the Bonnies at bay.
 
Gerhart tallied her ninth multi-hit game of the season, and 22nd of her career, in the opener while Gurganus notched the 11th multi-hit game of her rookie campaign. Gabelt posted her fourth multi-hit outing of the season, and 10th of her career, in the first game while Schwartzmiller contributed her second multi-hit game of the season and her second career contest with multiple extra-base hits.
 
Badolato earned the complete-game win while striking out seven. In the process, she surpassed 500 career innings in a Colonial uniform.
 
The Colonials wouldn't pull ahead quite as early in the second game, but they kept their foot on the gas pedal all the way until the end.
 
A pair of walks gave the Bonnies life in the top of the first, but Stocks settled in by getting a strikeout and a groundout to close the frame. After RMU went down quietly in the bottom half, St. Bonaventure again threatened in the second.
 
A walk, a single and an error gave the Bonnies a bases loaded chance with one out, but Stocks got a ground ball, on which the lead runner was forced out at home, before getting another grounder to leave the sacks full.
 
RMU could not take advantage of a Bonnies' error in the second, and Stocks then set down the side in order in the third.
 
Evans singled to open the bottom of the third, and a mishandled bunt by the guests then momentarily put runners on the corners before Evans alertly swiped home since it was being left unguarded by the defense. An error on the infield allowed a second run to score later in the inning. With two outs, Stocks blasted a 1-1 pitch to straightaway center for a round-tripper that doubled RMU's lead.
 
Stocks retired St. Bonaventure in order in the fourth on a foul out and two groundouts.
 
Sophomore Lauren Hackett (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) started the home half with a single to center, and freshman Stacey Capp (McKees Rocks, Pa. / Montour) then sacrificed her to second. Evans followed with a single to put runners on the corners, and then Robert Morris traded an out for a run as Hackett scored while the Bonnies were occupied trying to tag Evans out.
 
Three consecutive singles, two of which did not leave the infield, with one out loaded the bases for St. Bonaventure in the fifth. The next batter hit a fly ball to center field. Gerhart ranged to her left, made the catch and then fired a strike to the plate where Hackett caught the ball and applied a tag in one motion to conclude a nifty, inning-ending double play.
 
Gerhart walked to start the bottom half, and Gurganus followed with a single, but next three hitters would be retired.
 
Stocks worked around a one-out walk in the sixth by retiring each of the next two batters.
 
For the second time in three innings, Hackett led off an inning with a single. Capp then ripped a double into the left center gap, the first extra-base hit of her career, to put two runners in scoring position. Evans then shot a hard grounder into left to score Hackett. Freshman Rayanna Furst (New Castle, Pa. / Neshannock) then followed with a single up the middle, her first-career hit, to plate Capp. Gerhart finished it off by knocking a single to right to score Evans and push the Colonials' total to eight.
 
Evans notched her third multi-hit game of the season, and the seventh of her career, in the nightcap while Hackett posted her first such outing of the season and the sixth of her career. Stocks' long ball was the seventh of her career and allowed her to post the fifth multi-RBI effort of her career. In addition to her first-ever hit, Furst posted the first RBI and first steal of her collegiate career in the second game.
 
Show became the first Colonial in program history to play in 200 career games with her appearance in the opener.
 
With its non-league outings complete for the season, Robert Morris will resume Northeast Conference action this coming weekend. The Colonials will travel to Staten Island to face Wagner Saturday, April 26.