Moon Township, Pa. – It wasn't always easy, but the
Robert Morris University softball team battled its way to a sweep of LIU Brooklyn in Northeast Conference action on a mostly sunny and warm Saturday afternoon at the North Athletic Complex.
RMU posted a come-from-behind, 4-2, win in the opener before hanging on for a 6-5 victory in the nightcap.
In doing so, the Colonials moved into a tie for first place in the league standings at the halfway part of their NEC slate.
Junior
Ashley Gerhart led the Colonial offense by reaching base safely four times on the day. She went a combined 3-for-5 with a home run, a triple, three RBI and three runs while also being hit by a pitch. Gerhart notched her fourth long ball of the season, and 11th of her career, in the nightcap while contributing multiple hits in a game for the fifth time in her past six outings. She now has 12 multi-hit efforts in 2015 and 35 in her career.
Sophomore
Jordan Gurganus matched Gerhart in the hits column as she finished 3-for-6 Saturday with a steal and two runs scored. She collected her team-leading 15th multi-hit game of the season, and 28th of her career, as she reached 50 base hits for the season.
Senior
Nicole Sleith picked up both wins in the circle for the Colonials as she allowed two earned runs in both matchups. She tallied 15 strikeouts on the day to move into sixth place on the school's single-season strikeout list (223). She also edged up into sole possession of second place in all-time wins at RMU with 73.
LIU Brooklyn struck first in the opening game, but the Colonials did not get rattled and continued to press onward.
Sleith struck out the side in order in the top of the first, getting two Blackbirds swinging and one looking.
Gurganus shot a single up the middle to open the bottom half but would not advance.
For the second straight frame, Sleith struck out the side in order, again getting two swinging and one looking.
Freshman
Olivia Lorusso worked an eight-pitch walk with one away in the bottom half. Senior
Alexis Schwartzmiller then singled to left to put two on base, but a lineout and a force out followed.
LIU found the scoring column in the third, and it started with a one-out single. With a runner on third and two outs, the Blackbirds notched three consecutive hits to plate two runs.
RMU immediately responded in its half of the inning. Gurganus lined a single to center to start things, and junior
Haileigh Stocks followed with a single through the middle to put runners on the corners. The sophomore and junior then executed a successful double steal with Stocks then alertly moving to third on the play. After the first out, senior
Tess Apke did her job by lifting a fly ball to right field as it turned into a game-tying sacrifice fly.
A leadoff single and a sacrifice by LIU in the fourth put a runner in scoring position with one out, but Sleith struck out the next batter swinging before getting a groundout to end things.
Senior
Samantha Santillo singled to left with two away in the fourth but would not advance.
A one-out walk gave the Blackbirds an opening in the fifth, but the RMU infield then turned an inning-ending double play on a soft popup that didn't get that high off the ground.
Gurganus was robbed of a hit to start the fifth as the LIU left fielder made a diving catch toward left center. With two outs, Gerhart kept the inning alive by knocking a single to right on a full count. On the very next pitch, Apke drilled a high fly deep to left center as her long ball gave RMU its first lead of the day.
Sleith retired the side in order in the sixth on a fly out, a foul out on the infield and a looking strikeout.
After RMU went in order in the home half, LIU refused to go quietly in the seventh. Consecutive one-out singles put the tying runs on base. A groundout then moved both runners into scoring position with two away. Sleith then got a bouncer to the right side that sophomore
Stacey Capp handled cleanly and fired to Gurganus to register the third out, putting the game in the win column for RMU.
Apke's long ball was her fourth of the season and 23rd of her career. She posted her third outing of 2015 with at least three RBI, which was the ninth such effort of her career.
Unlike the opener, Robert Morris jumped on top right away in the nightcap, and it would again hold on by enough at the end.
LIU had an early chance when it tallied a two-out triple after the base hit got by a Colonial outfielder. However, Sleith struck out the cleanup hitter swinging to strand the runner.
A LIU miscue and a single by Stocks put the first two Colonials on base in the home half. Gerhart then came through by ripping a two-run triple into the left center gap. After the first out, junior
Kristen Gabelt came through with a lined single to left to score a third run. A lineout then turned into an inning-ending double play.
After two were away in the second, a single, a steal and a single that landed right on the left field line brought home a run. A groundout to third closed the frame.
RMU went in order in the home half on a lineout, a fly out and a groundout that deflected off the diving third baseman right to the shortstop.
Sleith handled a bunt and then got a fly out for the first two outs of the third. A two-out single was no matter as the senior got a looking strikeout to strand a runner.
Gurganus singled to center to begin the home half, but the line drive that followed quickly turned into two outs on a double play. However, Gerhart picked up the squad when she launched the next pitch over the fence in left center.
A hit batter gave LIU an opening with one away in the fourth. Consecutive two-out singles would score a run for the Blackbirds although the Colonial defense cut down a trail runner on the run-scoring hit when Santillo took a throw from the outfield and then fired to Lorusso.
RMU got the run back right away in the bottom half when Gabelt joined the long ball crowd by homering to left center. One out later, Schwartzmiller doubled to right center, but she would be left on base.
Sleith set down the side in order in the fifth on a strikeout, a lineout and a groundout.
Gurganus appeared to reach with an infield single to start the home half, but the umpires then overturned the original call on the field. A Blackbird miscue was then followed by Gerhart getting hit by a pitch put two on base for RMU, but back-to-back groundouts ended the inning.
LIU posted a leadoff single and a one-out infield single in the sixth. Apke then made a running catch into foul ground for the second out before Schwartzmiller handled a grounder for the final out of the frame.
Robert Morris added what proved to be a key insurance run in the bottom half, and it started when Lorusso fouled off three pitches to work a full count walk. She advanced to second on a groundout. Then with two away, Capp delivered a RBI single to score the rookie. Junior
Lauren Hackett would follow by lining a single to left to put two on base, but a popup ended the inning.
A one-out base hit started LIU's rally in the seventh inning. A two-out error was then followed by a three-run blast that pulled the Blackbirds within one. A full count walk then put the tying run on base. The next batter dropped a single into shallow right. Apke tried to make the catch sprinting in, but the ball fell in and trickled by her, setting up a dramatic finish. Apke recovered to grab the ball quickly and then fired it straight to the plate where Santillo gathered it in time to get the lead runner out, finishing the game in thrilling fashion.
Apke's sixth multi-RBI game of the season, and 24th of her career, moved her into a tie for fourth all-time at Robert Morris in career RBI (92).
Gabelt's blast was her team-leading seventh of the season and 11th of her career. She notched her 10th multi-hit game in the nightcap, the 21st of her career, while also contributing her fifth multi-RBI performance of 2015, the ninth of her career.
Gerhart's triple was her third of the season. Her three RBI were a new career high and allowed to net her sixth multi-RBI outing of the season, the 14th of her career.
Schwartzmiller's two-bagger was her fifth of the season and the 12th of her career.
With the victories, RMU improved to 8-0 in league play for the first time in program history. This also marks the first time the Colonials have won eight straight conference games within the same season since 2006.
Robert Morris will close its home slate Sunday as it plays a NEC doubleheader for the second straight day as it hosts Wagner at a newly adjusted start time of 11:00 a.m.
