Madeira Beach, Fla. – The
Robert Morris University softball team led from start to finish twice on Friday as it opened play in the EMU Madeira Beach Invitational with two wins under sunny skies on the western coast of Florida.
RMU defeated North Dakota, 9-2, in the first game ever at the recently finished complex while it closed the day with a tighter, 7-4 victory over tournament host Eastern Michigan.
The Colonials utilized a relatively balanced attack offensively as five players reached base at least three times on the day via hit or walk while three additional players tallied an extra base hit. Eight of the nine Colonials to start the opener notched at least one hit while eight of nine posted a hit or walk at a minimum in the nightcap. Senior
Nicole Sleith led the effort in the circle as she collected a complete-game victory in the opener and a save in the nightcap.
Junior
Kristen Gabelt went 4-for-7 on the day with two runs, four RBI and a home run, a key blast that came against the Eagles. She posted two multi-hit games on the same day for the first time in her career and now has 14 in a Colonial uniform. Her three-RBI effort against the Eagles was also the first of her career.
Junior
Ashley Gerhart finished 4-for-8 on the day with a double, a homer, two runs, four RBI and an outfield assist. Gerhart reached 100 career hits Friday thanks in large part to a three-hit performance against North Dakota, the eighth three-hit outing and the 25th multi-hit performance of her career.
RMU jumped all over North Dakota right from the start.
Sophomore
Jordan Gurganus shot the first pitch of the game to left for a single before Gerhart drove a full-count offering well over the fence in left center for her eighth career long ball. Senior
Tess Apke got things restarted for RMU with a single to center before junior
Haileigh Stocks walked one out later. With two down, senior
Samantha Santillo's liner to center was not handled, which brought Apke home. Gabelt followed with a two-out RBI single to left to plate Stocks before getting in a rundown on a steal attempt while the next batter was up to allow the runner from third to score on the play.
North Dakota used two hits to put two in scoring position with one out in the home half. A two-out walk would load the bases, but Sleith got a big strikeout to leave the sacks full.
Gerhart lined a single to left with two away in the second but would be left on base.
North Dakota used an infield single, a walk and a single to center to load the bases with one out in the bottom half, but Sleith stepped up in the tough spot by striking out each of the next two batters swinging to keep UND off the board.
Senior
Alexis Schwartzmiller singled with two outs in the third but would not advance.
North Dakota got on the board with a walk and a long ball to start the third before Sleith retired the side.
Gabelt singled to start the fourth and moved to second on a sacrifice by sophomore
Stacey Capp, but a line drive double play ended the frame.
Sleith began to settle in as the game wore on as the veteran retired the side in order in the fourth, the first of three such consecutive innings.
Gerhart singled into right to start the fifth and moved up one base courtesy of a sacrifice by Apke. With two down, three consecutive Colonials contributed clutch hits. Stocks lined a single to left before Schwartzmiller sent another base hit in that direction. Santillo then launched a two-run double to right center, giving RMU a six-run advantage.
Capp then blasted her first-collegiate homer to start the sixth inning by sending a 2-0 offering over the fence in left.
Stocks started the seventh with a single to left but would not move up.
Sleith's string of retiring 13 in a row was broken with one away in the seventh due to an infield hit, but she would get a fly ball and a strikeout to close the contest.
Stocks' multi-hit game was the first of her season and the 12th of her career while Santillo's multi-RBI game was the second of her season and the 16th of her career. Schwartzmiller notched her third multi-hit performance of the season, tying for the team lead.
Sleith allowed six hits, two on the infield, in the win while striking out 10, her third double-digit strikeout effort of the season in three starts and the 17th of her career.
It took slightly longer for Robert Morris to take the lead in its second game against Eastern Michigan as the Colonials would be involved in a closer affair.
The Eagles got a bloop single in the top of the first but would do nothing with it.
Gurganus singled on the first pitch a Colonial saw in the game, the fifth consecutive contest she's led off RMU's half of the first inning with a base hit. After Gurganus stole second, Stocks worked a seven-pitch walk, but a foul out ended the inning.
An error, a sacrifice and an illegal pitch moved an Eagle to third base with one out in the second, but a strikeout and a fly ball to right kept the game scoreless.
Gabelt singled with one out in the bottom half, and junior
Lauren Hackett then walked on a full count. With two outs, Gurganus came through by ripping a double into the right center gap to score the game's first run. Gerhart followed by doubling to the fence in left field to make it 3-0.
Eastern Michigan used three hits, two of the infield variety, and a groundout to score twice in the third. However, it could have been more if not for Gerhart's running catch in the right center gap and subsequent throw to double off a runner from first base.
RMU responded right away, though. After freshman
Olivia Lorusso walked and Schwartzmiller singled to left, Gabelt crushed a 1-1 pitch to left that cleared the wall, the fifth long ball of her career.
A single, a walk and a double brought home a run for Eastern Michigan to start the fourth. With two runners in scoring position and no outs, Stocks was called upon from the bullpen. The junior got a strikeout, a foul out on the infield and a groundout to limit the Eagles' damage.
Stocks then walked in the home half, took second on a wild pitch and came around to score on Lorusso's full-count double down the left field line.
The Eagles got one back with two hits and two walks in the fifth, but Stocks induced a groundout to leave the bases loaded.
Freshman
Kecia Sharp pinch hit in the home half and lined a single to left center, her first-collegiate hit. Capp followed with an opposite-field single but both runners were left on base.
Stocks worked around a two-out single in the sixth before RMU went in order for the only time on the day.
A walk and a single by EMU brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but Sleith then entered and got a groundout to close out the proceedings, recording her second save of the season and the program-record 13th of her career.
Gurganus posted the third multi-hit game of her season, and the 16th of her career, against the Eagles while notching her second career two-bagger. Gerhart had another multi-RBI performance in the nightcap, giving her 10 in her career.
Stocks earned her second win of the season by allowing one run in 3.2 innings while striking out three batters. Freshman
Nicholette Maderitz made her collegiate debut Friday and allowed two earned runs in 3+ innings of work.
Robert Morris has now struck the scoring column first in each of its opening half dozen games, the first such occurrence in over a decade.
RMU continues play in the event Saturday, but will have just one game, as the Colonials face Texas State at 6:30 p.m.
