Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University softball team opened play in the Seahawk Softball Challenge Friday at Boseman Field in Wilmington, N.C., splitting a pair of games. The Colonials fell to host UNCW, 6-5, in eight innings before rebounding to earn a 9-4 win over Marist.
GAME 1 • @ UNCW • L, 5-6 (8)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU grabbed an early 1-0 lead courtesy of an RBI double from senior
Natalie Higgins, but the Seahawks scored two in the bottom of the first and tacked on another in the second to grab a 3-1 advantage. The Colonials battled back, pushing two across the plate with two outs in the top of the fifth to jump ahead, 4-3. Back-to-back singles from senior
Briana Bunner and
Erika Bell set Robert Morris up with runners on second and third, and senior
Taryn Miller cashed in, driving them both home with a single to center field.
BACK AND FORTH
UNCW knotted the game, 4-4, in the bottom of the seventh, as a double to center from Dominique Travers scored Jada Santiago, who scored from first after drawing a one-out walk. RMU went back on top in the opening half of the eighth inning on an RBI single from freshman
Antonia Schaefer, but the Seahawks scored a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth to lift UNCW to victory.
HIT PARADE
Robert Morris finished with 10 hits against UNCW, with Higgins, Bell, Miller and Schaefer each collecting multi-hit efforts. Higgins finished 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Bell scored twice while going 2-for-4. Miller and Schaefer also each went 2-for-4 at the dish.
GAME 2 • vs. Marist • W, 9-4
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Robert Morris (5-6) batted around in the bottom of the third inning, collecting eight runs as each of the nine starters safely reached with a hit. Freshman
Danielle Jason opened the inning with a triple to left and came around to score three batters later on a wild pitch. The Colonials did the rest of their damage with two outs. Bunner provided an RBI double to right, while Bell followed with an RBI single to center. Schaefer, who struck out as the second batter in the inning, singled through the left side to drive in Bell, while sophomore
Brittney Seibert, who followed Schaefer's strikeout by popping up to short, followed with an RBI single of her own to drive home Miller.
FROM THE CIRCLE
Sophomore
Dana Vatakis went the distance for Robert Morris in picking up her third win of the campaign. She worked around six walks on the night, scattering five hits and allowing just a pair of earned runs. The Red Foxes scored two in the top of the fourth after RMU's big inning, but Vatakis allowed just one hit over the final three frames to secure the victory. She finished with a season-high seven punch outs.
MAGNUM, P.I.
Higgins rapped out three hits in the win over Marist and finished the two games at the Seahawk Softball Challenge Friday 5-for-8 with a run, RBI and double. It marked the third time on the young 2020 campaign she has collected at least three hits in a game. Since going 0-for-3 in the season opener @ Presbyterian (2/7), Higgins has hit safely in nine of her last 10 contests, hitting .459 (17-for-37) during that span.
WARMING UP
Miller, meanwhile, stretched her hitting streak to five for RMU by going 2-for-4 in both games Friday. She has bumped her average to .286 on the season after opening the year 3-for-18. Also finishing 2-for-4 against the Red Foxes was Bunner, who drove in two and scored a pair thanks to a double and her second home run of the season, which provided an insurance run in the bottom of the fourth inning. Bunner has also hit safely in nine of her last 10 games, hitting .324 (11-for-34) during that stretch.
UP NEXT
Robert Morris continues play at Boseman Field Saturday, Feb. 29, with a pair of games. The Colonials take on Toledo at 3:00 p.m., followed by a rematch with Marist at 5:30 p.m.
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