Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Emmitsburg, Md. – Robert Morris University softball head coach Craig Coleman, M.D., won his 600th career game for the Colonials as RMU defeated Mount St. Mary's, 10-0 in six innings, to open a Northeast Conference (NEC) doubleheader Sunday afternoon at a pleasant Our Lady of the Meadows Field.
 
RMU would drop a tight, 1-0, affair in the nightcap against the Mountaineers.
 
Coleman becomes the first head coach in any sport in Robert Morris history to reach this milestone win total. He reached the mark thanks to both his lineup and his starting pitcher.
 
Junior Tess Apke (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) was 3-for-4 with a homer, two RBI and two runs scored in the Game One victory. She posted her 10th multi-hit game of the season, and her third outing with at least three hits, and the 29th of her career. The long ball was her sixth of the season and the 18th of her career, moving her into sole possession of fifth place all-time at RMU.
 
Sophomore Ashley Gerhart (Imperial, Pa.  / West Allegheny) went 2-for-3 with a homer, three runs scored, two RBI and a sacrifice in the victory. She posted her seventh multi-hit game of the season, and 20th of her career, while tying her single-game high for runs scored. Her homer was her third of the season and sixth of her career.
 
Junior Nicole Sleith (Smithton, Pa. / Yough) delivered a five-hit shutout from the circle to claim the win. She struck out seven while walking a lone batter. It was her sixth shutout of the season and the 17th of her career.
 
RMU jumped ahead on its second batter of the game when Gerhart blasted a 1-2 pitch over the fence by a good margin, just to the left of dead center. Apke would follow with an opposite-field single, but the next two batters were retired.
 
After Sleith retired the side in order in the bottom half, the Colonials doubled their lead in the second, and it started when sophomore Kristen Gabelt (Ligonier, Pa. / Ligonier Valley) drilled a one-out, opposite-field double. With two down, senior Cassie Show (Connellsville, Pa. / Connellsville) singled to put runners on the corners. Show would then take off for second but ended up getting in a rundown long enough so that Gabelt could touch home.
 
The Mountaineers tried to respond in the home half as a walk and a double put two runners in scoring position with one down, but a strikeout and a lineout snared by senior Chelsea Siar (Glenshaw, Pa. / Shaler Area) left both stranded.
 
Robert Morris broke it open with a big third frame. Freshman Jordan Gurganus (Chesapeake, Va. / Hickory) singled to center to start it before an error on a sacrifice attempt and a hot shot to third from Apke loaded the bases. A wild pitch brought home one run before junior Samantha Santillo (Ellwood City, Pa. / Lincoln) singled home another. Senior Chelsea Evans (Beaver Falls, Pa. / Riverside) would collect a RBI on a fielder's choice before Siar nailed a two-out, two-run double to left center.
 
Sleith worked around a two-out baserunner in the third. Apke would single with two away in the fourth but would not advance.
 
Mount St. Mary's notched two hits in the fourth, but the first baserunner was erased when Apke gunned her down from the right center gap trying to stretch a single into a double, an outfield assist that helped keep the Mountaineers off the board in that inning.
 
The Mountaineers notched the only baserunner in the fifth, but RMU tallied a double play to end the frame.
 
Gerhart delivered a two-out RBI single in the sixth, and then Apke followed by hitting a towering drive to center that cleared the fence slightly to the right of the flag pole.
 
Sleith worked around an infield single in the bottom half and finished off the game with a strikeout.
 
Apke, Gerhart and Siar all notched multi-RBI efforts for RMU in the opener. Apke posted her fifth of the season and 17th of her career, Gerhart contributed her third of the season and seventh of her career and Siar collected her third of the season and the 18th of her career.
 
RMU was unable to dent the scoreboard in the nightcap and suffered a tough setback.
 
Mount St. Mary's produced the first inning's only baserunner with a one-out single, but Sleith tallied a strikeout and a groundout to end it.
 
Sophomore Haileigh Stocks (Jamison, Pa. / Central Bucks South) lined a one-out single to center in the second, but a lineout ended the chance.
 
Mount St. Mary's loaded the bases with one out in the second on a pair of walks and a Colonial miscue, but Sleith got a big strikeout and then a groundout to strand the runners.
 
After each side went in order in the third, Gerhart smoked a single to the opposite field. With two away, RMU would get a runner into scoring position, but a strikeout stopped the threat.
 
Mount St. Mary's produced a leadoff double in the fourth, but senior Geena Badolato (Mt. Lebanon, Pa. / Mt. Lebanon) pitched well out of the bullpen by retiring each of the next three batters to keep the game scoreless.
 
Evans started the fifth by knocking a single to the left side on the 11th pitch of her at bat. With one away, Siar knocked an opposite-field single to put runners on the corners. A fielder's choice would then load the bases, but neither of the next two Colonials could deliver a run home.
 
Each of the next two half-innings was of the 1-2-3 variety.
 
A leadoff single and a one-out double to the gap in left center gave Mount the only run it would need. RMU would get out of the inning without further damage when Show made a great over-the-shoulder catch with her back to the plate and then doubled off a runner who assumed that the ball would fall in.
 
An error and a sacrifice by junior Alexis Schwartzmiller (Carnegie, Pa. / Chartiers Valley) moved a runner into scoring position with one down in the seventh, but a 12-pitch strikeout and a groundout gave the Mountaineers the victory.
 
Show moved into second place in all-time games played at RMU (191) in the nightcap.
 
Robert Morris will continue its eight-game road trip with a pair of NEC doubleheaders next weekend. The Colonials will play at LIU Brooklyn Saturday at 1:00 p.m. to start the weekend.