Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University softball team continued play in the Seahawk Softball Challenge Saturday at Boseman Field in Wilmington, N.C., dropping a pair of games. The Colonials fell to Toledo, 13-1, in six innings before suffering a 3-1 loss to Marist. RMU owns an overall record of 5-8 (.385) in 2020.
GAME 1 • vs. Toledo • L, 1-13 (6)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Rockets opened the game with back-to-back singles and then loaded the bases courtesy of a walk from Dayna Denner. Lily Beyer scored for Toledo with one out on a wild pitch from sophomore
Dana Vatakis, who was able to get out of the inning without any further damage as Robert Morris turned a double play. The Colonials tied it, 1-1, in the bottom of the third, striking again with two outs. Sophomore
Kristýna Malá reached on an infield single, and she used her speed to score on an RBI double courtesy of senior
Natalie Higgins.
ADDING ON
Toledo scored three in the top of the fourth to grab a 4-1 advantage and opened the game up in the sixth, scoring nine runs on just three hits. The Rockets were aided by five RMU errors. Vatakis went five innings from the pitching circle, allowing six earned runs on six hits while striking out three. Senior
Madison Riggle relieved her in the sixth and allowed just two hits, with none of the runs she allowed earned.
GAME 2 • vs. Marist • L, 1-3
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Robert Morris couldn't solve Marist's Calista Phippen, who spun a complete game in the win for the Red Foxes. She scattered five hits and allowed just one run, striking out 14 while walking just one. Shea Walsh provided the big hit for Marist in the bottom of the sixth, as her two-run home run to right snapped a 1-1 tie.
TRAIN KEPT A ROLLING
Higgins accounted for the lone run in RMU's second contest with Marist at the Seahawk Softball Challenge, homering to left in the top of the fourth inning to tie the game. She stretched her hitting streak to five games Saturday by finishing 2-for-6 in the pair of games with a run, two RBI, double and home run. Higgins leads Robert Morris in average (.413), doubles (5), home runs (3) and RBI (12) through 13 games.
IN THE ROUND
Freshman
Rachael Rhinehart made her first collegiate start for the Colonials against Marist, striking out eight and walking two in six innings of work. She yielded just five hits and allowed a pair of earned runs. In two games, Rhinehart owns a 1.91 earned run average (ERA).
UP NEXT
RMU concludes the Seahawk Softball Challenge Sunday, March 1, with a 12:30 p.m. game against host UNCW.
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | Snapchat | YouTube
