Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened a six-game road trip Friday by extending its winning streak to five with a doubleheader sweep of Purdue Fort Wayne. The Colonials posted a 5-3 win in game one before holding on for a 10-9 triumph in the second game. RMU improves to 15-9 (.625) overall on the 2021 season, including 10-6 (.625) in the Horizon League.
GAME 1 • W, 5-3
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials jumped out to an early 2-0 advantage, plating a pair of runs in the top of the first inning. Freshman
Faith Miller got the rally started with a one-out single, and graduate student
Natalie Higgins followed with a single to right to advance Miller to third. Graduate student
Madison Riggle drove home the first run of the contest with a fielder's choice, scoring Miller, and Riggle eventually came around to score an unearned run.
KNOTS LANDING
Purdue Fort Wayne (4-14 / 3-11 #HLSB) got on the board leading off the bottom of the second when Kyndell Ethridge connected for a home run off RMU starter
Rachael Rhinehart. The Mastodons tied it, 2-2, the next inning when Meagan Mullaney singled up the middle with one out to score Rachel Everson, who led off the inning with a single.
IMAGINE THAT
Junior
Kristýna Malá hit the first home run of her collegiate career in the finale of a four-game set against Oakland last weekend at the North Athletic Complex. The dinger came in career at bat No. 159. Three at bats later, Malá found her power stroke again, homering to lead off the top of the fifth and pushing the Colonials in front for good, 3-2. She added an RBI groundout in the top of sixth to give RMU a 5-2 cushion and finished 1-for-3 with a run and two RBI in game one, also drawing a walk. The performance bolstered Rhinehart, who improved to 4-2 in 2021 from the circle. She allowed three earned runs in the victory, striking out five while walking three.
GAME 2 • W, 10-9
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU fell behind, 3-0, before erupting for 10 runs in the final four innings, starting with four runs in the top of the fourth that helped erase a three-run deficit. The Colonials would need all 10 runs, as the Mastodons hit a pair of home runs in the bottom of the seventh, including a three-run shot from Morganne Denny, to make it a one-run game. Rhinehart came on in relief of junior
Dana Vatakis and after walking Mullaney and allowing Madeline Swart to reach despite striking her out got Kennedy Steele to ground into a fielder's choice to the end the game.
PUT IT ON THE BOARD … YES
RMU broke through offensively in the top of the fourth inning, as Miller led off the frame with a single to right before Higgins hit her team-high fifth home run of the season to pull the Colonials to within 3-2. Riggle followed with a walk, and freshman
Julia Ehrman was inserted as a pinch runner and promptly stole her team-high sixth bag of the year. Ehrman advanced to third two batters later and tied the game, 3-3, by scoring on a sacrifice fly to left from pinch hitter
Catalina Saxen. The Colonials grabbed the lead for good, 4-3, as a Purdue Fort Wayne error allowed
Charlotte Grover to score and push RMU in front.
DOUBLEMINT
RMU tacked on two more runs in the top of the fifth and sixth innings, as Grover doubled to left to score Miller and Higgins in the fifth, while pinch hitter
Madison Shiderly doubled to left to score York and Malá in the sixth. Pinch hitters had a good day at the dish Friday for the Colonials, finishing 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI.
CZECH THIS OUT
Speaking of pinch hitters, freshman
Avery Winchell came to the plate for the first time Friday with one out in the top of the seventh and doubled to right. York followed by flying out to left before Malá slammed her third home run of the season with a two-run shot. The round tripper gave the Colonials a 10-5 advantage and was big, as the Mastodons scored four times in the home half of the seventh before falling short. Malá, who finished 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI in game two, has now homered three times in her last nine at bats after failing to go yard in her first 158 trips to the plate as a member of the Colonials.
TOP OF THE MORNING
The first three hitters in the RMU lineup in game two of Malá, Miller and Higgins combined to go 7-for-13 with six runs and four RBI in the game two victory. Miller collected her second career three-hit game, while Higgins finished 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Higgins has posted two hits in each of her last four games after Friday's performance, raising her 2021 season average to .427 (32-for-75). She also has posted an OPS of 1.190 and has walked (6) as many times as she's struck out (6) so far this season.
GET THAT ONE
During RMU's five-game surge, three of those victories have come by one run. The Colonials have also won eight of their last nine games, going 4-0 in one-run contests during that stretch. RMU also improved to 9-0 in 2021 when leading after six and 7-0 when scoring 10 or more runs.
UP NEXT
The Colonials conclude their four-game set against Purdue Fort Wayne with a doubleheader Saturday, April 3. First pitch is slated for Noon.
Photo Credits: Rachel Von (Purdue Fort Wayne)
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