Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team christened its 2021 season Thursday with a pair of victories over North Carolina Central in Cary, N.C., at Thomas Brooks Park. The Colonials earned a 4-0 victory in game one of a doubleheader before coming back to win the nightcap, 10-3.
GAME 1 • W, 4-0
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Behind junior pitcher
Dana Vatakis, RMU was able to secure a victory in its season opener for the first time in five years. It also marks the first shutout for the Colonials to open a season since 2016. Over the course of seven innings, Vatakis scattered just three hits, not allowing a hit until Diamond Porter singled up the middle for the Eagles to lead off the bottom of the fourth. At that point the Colonials owned a 3-0 lead, and after giving up her first hit of the contest, Vatakis induced a double play from Joirea Dumas.
ALL YOU NEED IS ONE
RMU scored two runs in top of the second and added insurance runs in the top half of the fourth and seventh innings. Freshman
Faith Miller picked up her first collegiate RBI to open the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the second inning that scored fellow rookie
Catalina Saxen, who reached on an error. In her second at bat at the NCAA Division I level, Saxen fouled off two pitches before connecting for her first collegiate home run, a solo shot that led off the fourth inning.
ROUND AND ROUND
In the top of the seventh, freshman
Charlotte Grover got in on the round tripper act with a solo shot to lead off the inning. Grove and Saxen each collected a pair of hits in their RMU debut, as Saxen finished 2-for-3 with two runs and an RBI, while Grover was 2-for-2, drawing a walk. Vatakis tossed 81 pitches in the complete-effort from the circle, facing just three over the minimum and striking out one.
GAME 2 • W, 10-3
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Eagles (0-7) grabbed an early 2-0 lead before the Colonials scored three in the fourth to jump in front. North Carolina Central tied it in the fifth, 3-3, but RMU scored seven runs in the final two innings to take control. Sophomore
Ariana Garroway, who was hitless in four at bats as a freshman in 2020, posted her first collegiate home run with a two-run shot that put the Colonials on top in fourth inning. She added an RBI single in the sixth that gave RMU a 5-3 lead and finished 2-for-3 at the dish with a run, three RBI and a stolen base.
THE BOTTOM TRIO
The last three batters in the RMU order in game two of the win over North Carolina Central combined to 5-for-10 with five runs, six RBI and a pair of walks. Sophomore
Rachael Rhinehart finished 1-for-2 with two runs and an RBI, helping her own cause from the pitching circle. Rhinehart worked around five walks in the nightcap, yielding just four hits and a pair of earned runs while striking out four. Her first collegiate pitching victory helped the Colonials improve to 2-0 to open a season for the first time since 2016.
MULTI-HIT EFFORTS
Joining Garroway with a multi-hit effort in game two against the Eagles was sophomore
Danielle Jason, who finished 2-for-4 with a run out of the leadoff spot. Freshman
Kinsey Ventura effectively sealed the win in the top of the seventh, igniting a three-run rally with a pinch-hit triple that scored fellow rookie
Julia Ehrman and gave the Colonials an 8-3
edge.
UP NEXT
RMU returns to Thomas Brooks Park Friday morning for another doubleheader with North Carolina Central. First pitch of the opening game is set for 10:00 a.m.
Photo Credit: North Carolina Central University
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