Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened a four-game set Saturday against Howard in Washington, D.C., at Nationals Youth Academy, splitting a doubleheader. The Colonials won the opener, 12-2, before dropping the second game, 7-5, and own an overall record of 5-1 (.833) on the 2021 campaign.
GAME 1 • W, 12-2 (6)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU concluded its four-game set at North Carolina Central last weekend by scoring 10 runs in each of its final three games. The Colonials did two better in the opener against the Bison, pushing 12 runs across the plate and winning in six innings. RMU kept the offense rolling from its set against the Eagles by scoring five runs in the first two innings Saturday at Howard. Senior
Alaina York came up with the big hit in the second inning, tripling down the left field line to plate both
Faith Miller and
Kristýna Malá.
THE BIG INNING
In the sixth, York was at it again, this time doubling to center to drive in the first two of seven runs in the frame. Graduate student
Natalie Higgins added a two-run double of her own, while fellow grad student
Madison Riggle emphasized the eventual triumph with a three-run home run to left. York notched her second consecutive three-hit game for RMU, finishing 3-for-4 at the dish out of the leadoff spot with a pair of runs and a career-high four RBI. Higgins added three hits of her own in the win, also scoring twice while driving in a pair.
STAYING PERFECT
Junior
Dana Vatakis improved to 3-0 on the 2021 season by yielding just a pair of runs, scattering five hits and striking out four. She also worked around four walks while inducing 11 groundouts on the afternoon. Vatakis allowed a run on three hits in the first inning but retired 10 straight before hitting Camillie Navarro with a pitch to open the bottom half of the fifth inning.
GAME 2 • L, 5-7
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
A back-and-forth affair saw the Colonials grab early 1-0 and 2-1 leads before Howard scored three times in bottom of the second to take a 4-2 advantage. RMU battled back to tie it, 4-4, in the top of the fifth by scoring a pair of runs with two outs. Riggle started the rally by getting hit by a pitch, and junior
Erika Bell followed with a single to center. Malá singled to bring home pinch runner
Julia Ehrman, and Bell eventually scored on a wild pitch to tie it.
GETTING AWAY
Howard took control in the bottom of the sixth, plating three runs with the help of four errors by RMU. The Bison stole three bases during the inning, including a pair from Ayana Sallee. The Colonials got a run back in the top of the seventh with a one-out RBI double from Riggle, but the Bison picked up the final two outs to hand RMU its first loss of the season.
CLOSING IN
Higgins finished 2-for-3 to lead the RMU offense in game two and has hit safely in each of her first six games of the 2021 season. She has produced a .417 average (10-for-24) with five runs, three doubles and seven RBI. Thanks to pair of doubles Saturday, Higgins pushed her career total to 38, just three shy of the program career record of 41, which is held by Lauren Dickinson (1998-2001). Higgins, York and sophomore
Avery Winchell are the only Colonials to have started each of RMU's first six games of the season.
UP NEXT
Two more with Howard Sunday, March 7, concludes the 2021 non-conference schedule for the Colonials. First pitch at Nationals Youth Academy will be at Noon.
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