Moon Township, Pa. –
Nicole Sleith saved her best collegiate performance for the final day of her senior season as she threw a perfect game to lead the
Robert Morris University softball team to a 2-0 win over Fairleigh Dickinson in the first elimination game of the Northeast Conference Tournament Friday afternoon at the North Athletic Complex.
In their second must-win game, RMU ran out of gas on the hot afternoon as the Colonials were unable to keep the momentum going against LIU Brooklyn as the Blackbirds claimed a 12-1 win decision in five innings.
Sleith's effort is believed to be the first perfect game in program history. She struck out six while getting seven outs on the ground and eight in the air as she threw 51 of her 76 pitches for strikes. The perfecto was also a record-breaking one for the senior as she took sole possession of first place in all-time wins at RMU by registering the 78th of her career, surpassing a mark that had stood for over 20 years.
Sophomore
Jordan Gurganus concluded a strong campaign Friday by going 3-for-7 with two RBI. She finished the season with 63 hits, becoming only the fourth Colonial in history to reach that figure in a campaign. Barring a miraculous finish, Gurganus is poised to become the first Colonial to win the NEC batting title since 2000. Her final 2015 mark of .384 ranks as the seventh-highest single-season average at RMU.
Sleith controlled the contest against the Knights from the outset as she delivered a masterful performance.
Sleith got a pair of popups on the infield sandwiched around a swinging strikeout in the top of the first inning.
Gurganus singled to open the home half, and advanced to second one out later, but she would be left there.
Sleith dealt with two of her three three-ball counts in the second inning, but both times she got strikeouts on full counts. She also handled a groundout herself in the frame.
Robert Morris got the only runs it would need in the bottom half. After junior
Haileigh Stocks sent a fly ball to the warning track on the 12th pitch of her at bat to begin the inning, senior
Alexis Schwartzmiller shot a laser over the fence in left to put the Colonials on the board. Senior
Samantha Santillo then singled to center before junior
Lauren Hackett worked a six-pitch walk. After a second out, Gurganus dropped a single into left center to bring in an insurance run. Junior
Ashley Gerhart followed by walking to load the bases, but a full count strikeout followed.
Sleith struck out the first two batters of the third swinging before fielding a bunt cleanly and firing to first for the third out.
Stocks knocked a double to left with one away in the third but would not move any further.
In the fourth inning, Sleith got a foul out down the right field line and a popup on the infield sandwiched around a bunt that she threw on to first.
Hackett lined a single to left to begin the home half and was promptly sacrificed to second by sophomore
Stacey Capp, but a pair of groundouts followed.
The FDU fifth consisted of a foul out down the left field line, a popup to the shortstop and a routine fly ball handled by Gerhart in center.
The Colonials went in order for the only time in the game in the bottom half.
The Knights went to a strategy of bunting to get on base in the sixth as two of their three batters put one down. However, the RMU defense was up to the task, as Sleith and Hackett each handled one without issue, while the hurler also got a swinging strikeout in the frame.
Schwartzmiller singled to center to begin the sixth and was moved to second on a sacrifice by Santillo. Hackett then worked a seven-pitch walk to put two on base, but consecutive popups ensued.
Sleith got a fly ball to right to begin the seventh before Capp handled a high, topsin grounder for the second out. The final batter sent a chopper to the left side that Hackett fielded and fired across where Gurganus squeezed it to complete the historic contest.
While the effort was the first perfect game in Sleith's tenure, it marked her third no-hitter in as many seasons.
Stocks notched her eighth double of 2015, the 25th of her career, against the Knights while Schwartzmiller's blast was her second of the season. Gurganus added her team-high 19th multi-hit game of the season against FDU, the 32nd of her career.
LIU used a big early inning to take control of Friday's final tournament game and never looked back.
Each team had its leadoff runner reach in the first, with RMU's coming courtesy of a Gurganus single, but neither side would crack the scoreboard.
After RMU went in order in the second, the Blackbirds took control by scoring eight times on seven hits in the bottom half.
Hackett singled to begin the third for RMU, but the next three batters were retired.
LIU added on in the third as it scored three runs, two unearned, without the benefit of a hit.
Junior
Kristen Gabelt singled to begin the fourth and eventually moved to third, but she was left there. The Blackbirds added a final unearned tally in the home half.
Santillo and Capp both singled in the fifth, with the former scoring on a RBI groundout by Gurganus, but it was not enough for RMU to keep the game going.
Gabelt's single was the 100th hit of her career and helped her finish with one of the top 30 batting averages in single-season program history. She also completed 2015 with the highest slugging percentage by a Colonial in six years.
Gerhart and Gurganus became the 16th and 17th distinct Colonials to finish a season with a batting average of at least .350.
Schwartzmiller contributed her career-best ninth multi-hit game of 2015 in the opener Friday, which was the 15th of her career.
Santillo will depart RMU with a .994 fielding percentage, the best ever by a Colonial.
Senior
Tess Apke finished her career among the top five all-time at RMU in hits, home runs, doubles and RBI.
With her effort Friday, Sleith tied the NEC single-season strikeout record of 296. Her perfect game was her ninth shutout of 2015, the most by a Colonial in a campaign since 1998, and the 27th of her career.
In addition to now owning the wins record, Sleith concluded her illustrious Colonial career with a school record 932 strikeouts.
