Moon Township, Pa. – With two outs in the bottom of the seventh, senior
Lauren Hackett crushed the 11th pitch of her at bat over the fence in left field to give the
Robert Morris University softball team its second come-from-behind win of the day over Kent State in the Colonials' home openers Wednesday afternoon at a mostly cloudy North Athletic Complex.
RMU trailed until the fourth inning in the opening game but would rally for a 3-2 victory. The nightcap was a wild, seesaw affair in which the Colonials trailed as late as the sixth inning, but Robert Morris came back to win, 14-11, behind blasts from Hackett and sophomore
Olivia Lorusso.
With the wins, Robert Morris now has four victories in the past three weeks against programs ranked among the top 50 in the NCAA RPI ratings.
While Hackett provided the winning blast in the nightcap, Lorusso was busy tying multiple RMU single-game records. The local product went 4-for-4 with a home run, a double, seven RBI and a run scored in the nightcap. Both her four hits and seven runs batted in equaled RMU records as she became just the second Colonial ever to have seven RBI in a game and the first since
Kali Byers in 2005. Prior to Wednesday,
Tess Apke was the last Colonial to notch four hits in a game, which she did in a win over Pitt in 2014.
Hackett finished the day a combined 4-for-7 with two homers, five runs scored, seven RBI and a sacrifice fly. She set career highs in hits (3), runs scored (4) and RBI (5) in the nightcap. Hackett also now has provided the walk-off hit in three of RMU's last four walk-off wins while she scored the winning run the only time she did not post the winning hit.
Hackett, Lorusso and company helped RMU score a season-high 14 runs in the nightcap, RMU's most against a non-conference foe since 2012. Robert Morris banged out 18 hits, the most by a Colonial team since 2007, and racked up 28 total bases, the most by the program since its 2012 home opener.
While the second game was a slugfest, the first game of the day was far from it, thanks in part to the effort of freshman
Laura Coulter. The rookie picked up her first collegiate win, on her birthday no less, as she allowed just four hits and two runs in a complete-game effort. She also ended the reigning national player of the week's streak of homering in five consecutive plate appearances.
Kent State would begin the opening game of the day with a home run to right center, but Coulter quickly settled in. She retired the next six Golden Flashes that came to the plate, as the next two half-innings were of the 1-2-3 variety.
Lorusso singled to left with one away in the bottom of the second, but she would not advance.
Kent State drew a leadoff walk in the third, but Lorusso then fired to second on a bunt to force the lead runner. Coulter then retired the next two batters on fly balls to left and right.
Coulter tried to help her own cause with a two-out single in the third, but a groundout followed.
Kent State looked to extend its lead in the fourth with a leadoff double. A fly out to right moved the runner to third with one down, but Coulter dug in and got groundouts to both middle infielders to keep the deficit at one.
Hackett began the home half by blasting a 1-0 pitch over the fence in left center. Senior
Kristen Gabelt followed with a single to left. After she moved to second on a groundout, senior
Haileigh Stocks came through with a clutch two-out single to center to score her classmate and give RMU the lead.
Coulter retired the side in order in the fifth, catching the final two batters of the inning both looking at strike three.
Freshman
Taylor Bartlow singled to open the home half, and redshirt freshman
Kristen Pray then reached first while earning a sacrifice. After junior
Jordan Gurganus sacrificed both runners into scoring position, Hackett sent a fly ball deep enough to left center to score Bartlow. Gabelt then singled to left, but Pray was gunned down at the plate to close the frame.
A one-out walk in the top of the sixth would be the only baserunner for Kent State as Coulter retired the next two batters on an infield popup and a fly ball to Gabelt.
After RMU went in order in the sixth, the Golden Flashes began the seventh with a double and an infield single. However, Gurganus then fired down to junior
Stacey Capp to catch the trail runner trying to steal as the Colonials gladly traded an out for a run. Coulter handled a groundout for the second out before a routine fly ball to center netted the rookie her first victory.
The second game bore little resemblance to the first except for the fact that RMU would rally from a deficit and pull out a tight victory.
A leadoff single, a sacrifice and a single to left center gave the Golden Flashes a quick 1-0 lead in the first inning of Game Two.
Gurganus walked to open the bottom half, and after a wild pitch, Hackett shot a single to left center to tie the game. Gabelt then sacrificed her classmate into scoring position before senior
Ashley Gerhart singled to put runners on the corners. Lorusso then ripped a double to left center to score Hackett.
A leadoff double, a sacrifice and a single to right would tie the game in the second for Kent State.
RMU would have a big home half of the second, scoring four times with two outs, but Kent State would answer in kind in the third.
Bartlow began RMU's rally in the second with an opposite-field single. Gurganus then dropped down a bunt single. After the second out, Gabelt singled to center, and Gerhart then walked. Lorusso then scored two with a single to right despite being down in the count 1-2. With runners on the corners, Lorusso then got hung up in a rundown long enough, after taking off toward second, to allow Gerhart to score.
Kent State answered with four runs in the third to tie it, the final three of which were unearned. Four hits, including two infield singles, a walk and two RMU miscues allowed the guests to tie it.
Capp singled to center with one down in the third, and moved to second on a groundout, but she was left there.
The Golden Flashes pulled ahead again in the fourth. They scored three unearned runs on the strength of a lone hit, a single, as they also used three walks, a hit batter and an error to retake the lead.
Gurganus made sure RMU wasn't down long when she shot a triple to the fence in left center on the first pitch of the bottom of the fourth. Hackett then drove her in with a RBI single to center. Gabelt then doubled to the fence in right center to put two in scoring position. After a double play, Lorusso placed a single to left to bring RMU within one.
The fifth inning was the only one without at least one team scoring as a one-out single by Kent State provided the only baserunner of the inning.
Two walks, a bunt single and a sacrifice fly gave Kent State one run in the sixth although the Colonials did cut down a trail runner trying to advance on the sac fly for the third out.
Gurganus singled to center to open the sixth. After two outs, Gerhart knocked an opposite-field single to keep the inning alive, and Lorusso made that worthwhile by launching a three-run shot to left to put RMU back on top.
Kent State would tie the game with a one-out solo blast in the seventh. A pair of singles followed, giving Kent State a chance to pull ahead, but a popup to Hackett and a lineout to Capp kept the game tied.
Capp opened the seventh by shooting the first pitch into right center for a single. Pray then put down a beautiful bunt single. A 4-6-3 double play would follow that left Capp at third with two down. Gurganus was then intentionally walked, bringing Hackett to the plate. The senior fouled off seven pitches in her at bat before rocketing a full count offering over the fence down the left field line, sending the Colonial dugout into jubilation.
The victory was RMU's third walk-off win in the month of March.
In the nightcap, the top five hitters in the Colonial batting order went a combined 14-for-18 with three walks, two home runs, one triple, two doubles, 12 runs scored and 12 RBI.
A Colonial had not scored four runs in a game in over six years, but Gurganus and Hackett both accomplished the feat in the nightcap. Gurganus, who reached in all five plate appearance in the second game, tallied her team-leading 17th multi-hit game of the season and the 49th of her career. Her triple was her third of 2016, and eighth of her career, and helped her notch her eighth three-hit game of the year, and 13th of her career.
Gerhart edged up into ninth place in career hits at RMU (167) with her efforts Wednesday as she notched the sixth multi-hit game of her season, and the 43rd of her career.
Gabelt posted a pair of multi-hit outings Wednesday, giving her eight this season and 30 in her career. Her double in the second game was her fourth of 2016 and the 20th in her career. Capp contributed her sixth multi-hit performance of the season in the nightcap.
Robert Morris will return to action Saturday as it plays its Northeast Conference openers as part of a doubleheader at Wagner at 1:00 p.m.
