Emmitsburg, Md. – Junior
Stacey Capp led the offense and freshman
Kaitlin Ellzy went the distance in the circle to lead the
Robert Morris University softball team to a 9-1 victory over host Mount St. Mary's to conclude a Northeast Conference doubleheader Saturday afternoon at an overcast Our Lady of the Meadows Field.
RMU dropped the first game of the twinbill, 4-1, as the Colonials completed their road slate Saturday.
Capp went 3-for-4 with a home run and a career-high five RBI in the nightcap against the Mountaineers. She drove in the first four runs of the game as she collected her second three-hit game of the season and her eighth multi-hit effort of the year.
Ellzy was strong in the circle as she allowed only four hits and a lone run in earning her 10th victory of the season. That effort for Ellzy followed the opening contest in which she threw three shutout innings in relief.
Senior
Haileigh Stocks aided RMU's offense by going a combined 4-for-7 with two runs scored and a RBI. She notched her fourth multi-hit game of the season and the 22nd of her career in the nightcap.
Senior
Ashley Gerhart had a pair of extra-base hits Saturday as she homered and doubled while scoring two runs. Her two-bagger was her eighth of the season, and 25th of her career, while her long ball was her fourth of 2016, and the 16th of her career.
Mount St. Mary's scored early in the opener and played from in front throughout the contest.
After RMU went in order in the top of the first, the Mount scored twice courtesy of three hits and a pair of RMU miscues.
Gerhart homered with one away in the second as her high fly ball to right cleared the fence. With two down, freshman
Abrielle McCartney battled back from an 0-2 count to work a walk, but she was left on base.
Each of the next two half innings was of the 1-2-3 variety.
The Mountaineers poked a two-out single to shallow center with two down in the third, but junior
Jordan Gurganus fired down to second to catch the runner stealing and end the inning.
Stocks singled to center with one down in the fourth, but a fly out and a foul out then followed.
A leadoff single followed by a home run gave the hosts two insurance runs in the home half. The hosts threatened for more with a single and a RMU error, but the Colonials used a 6-3-5 double play to help get out of the inning.
Each team went down in order in the fifth inning.
Senior
Lauren Hackett doubled to left with one out in the sixth, and would advance to third base, but Robert Morris was unable to bring her home.
Ellzy retired the side in order in the home half on a pair of groundouts sandwiched around a strikeout.
Sophomore
Olivia Lorusso doubled to the fence in right center with one out in the seventh to try and start a rally, but RMU was unable to extend the game.
Lorusso's double was her fifth of the season and the 10th of her career.
The Colonials turned the tables in the nightcap as they scored first and extended their lead in the later innings.
Senior
Kristen Gabelt bounced a single into left with two down in the top of the first, but a lineout by Stocks closed the frame.
Ellzy retired the side in the home half on a pair of fly balls and a swinging strikeout.
McCartney knocked a single to left center with two down in the second but would not advance.
Ellzy got an infield popup, a swinging strikeout and a groundout in order in the home half.
Capp put RMU on top when she led off the third by blasting a 1-2 pitch over the fence in left for her first long ball of the season.
Ellzy registered a shutdown inning by getting a pair of groundouts and a looking strikeout.
Stocks singled to right to open the fourth. She moved to second with two outs on a sacrifice by Lorusso. McCartney then worked a full-count walk, and redshirt freshman
Kristen Pray then singled sharply to left to load the bases. Capp then shot a single into center to bring home a pair of runs.
The Mountaineers drew a pair of walks to start the bottom half, but Ellzy quickly settled down as she got a popup on the infield, a strikeout and a fielder's choice, on which Stocks made a nice backhand flip, to keep the hosts scoreless.
Stocks singled to left with two outs in the fifth but would not move along.
RMU retired the Mount in order in the home half as Ellzy got a fly ball to right and a pair of groundouts to the left side of the infield.
Lorusso worked a full-count walk to open the sixth and moved to second with two down on a sacrifice by Pray. Capp then singled to center to bring home another run.
A leadoff single and a two-out double scored Mount St. Mary's only run of the game in the home half of the sixth. However, on the RBI double, the Colonials executed a perfect relay to throw the runner out at third as Gabelt hit Stocks in the cut position, who then threw a seed to Lorusso.
RMU had a big seventh inning as the first six Colonials to bat reached base. Hackett doubled to the fence in right center, and Gabelt followed with a full-count walk. Stocks drove in a run with an opposite-field single, and Gerhart brought in another by driving a double to the fence in left center. After a wild pitch scored Stocks, Lorusso walked to put two aboard. McCartney drove in a run with a ground ball to the right side, and Capp capped the scoring with a RBI groundout.
The Mountaineers had a pair of hits in the home half, but Ellzy got a fly ball to left close out the victory.
Hackett's pair of doubles Saturday gave her seven on the season and 19 in her career. Stocks' three-hit effort was her first of the season, and fourth of her career, while Capp's multi-RBI outing was her third of 2016.
Gerhart edged into a tie for eighth all-time at RMU in runs scored (96) Sunday and also moved into a tie for 10th in home runs.
With RMU finished with its road slate, the Colonials will play each of their final six games at home, beginning with a doubleheader Sunday, May 1, against Saint Francis.
