Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team wrapped up its 2021 regular season Saturday, splitting a doubleheader and four-game series with Cleveland State at Viking Field in Cleveland, Ohio. The Colonials earned a 7-3 win in the opener before dropping the regular-season finale, 3-2.
RMU will enter the 2021 Horizon League Tournament as the No. 4 seed with an overall record of 25-17 (.595). In their first season as a member of #HLSB, the Colonials posted a 20-14 (.588) mark.
GAME 1 • W, 7-3
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Graduate student
Natalie Higgins gave the Colonials an early 1-0 lead, singling to center to score freshman
Charlotte Grover, who walked to open the contest. The single from Higgins was misplayed by center fielder Mackenzie Tucker, allowing senior
Alaina York to race home with another run for RMU. Junior
Erika Bell capped the scoring in the opening frame with an RBI single that scored Higgins.
THE BIG INNING
RMU broke it open in the fourth, scoring four runs despite just a pair of hits. Sophomore
Avery Winchell started the rally with a single to left, and freshman
Catalina Saxen followed with a walk on four pitches. Two batters later, junior
Brittney Seibert loaded the bases when she was hit by a pitch from Alexa Sieger. The control issues continued for Sieger, who plunked Grover on the next at bat for the Colonials to score Winchell. Cleveland State (12-36 / 7-29 #HLSB) pulled Sieger in favor of Torrie Jenkins, and she got the second out of the inning by getting York to hit a chopper to shortstop Kiera Frascone, who forced Saxen out at the plate. RMU kept the rally going, however, with another RBI single from Higgins to score Seibert. A wild pitch from Jenkins and a throwing error from catcher Courtney Fernette allowed two more runs to score, giving the Colonials a 7-0 advantage.
CIRCLE K
Sophomore
Rachael Rhinehart drew the starting assignment for the Colonials in game one and held the Vikings scoreless through three. Cleveland State was able to get its offense going after RMU's four-run fourth inning, getting three of those runs back on three hits. Fernette atoned for her throwing error with the big hit, a two-run double to right. Rhinehart settled down, however, striking out the final two batters of the inning. She went six frames Saturday, striking out six and not walking a batter. In her nine innings on the weekend against the Vikings, Rhinehart finished with 12 punch outs and no walks.
GAME 2 • L, 2-3
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Tied, 1-1, heading into the bottom of the sixth, Aly Packish broke the stalemate with a two-run single down the right field that scored pinch runner Valeri Broschk and Frascone. The Vikings would need both of those runs, as the Colonials mounted a rally in the top of the seventh. Grover drew a one-out walk with a nine pitch at bat, and Higgins followed with a double to right center to bring Grover home and make it a one-run game. Bell singled, but graduate student
Madison Riggle popped up to shortstop for the second out. Winchell loaded the bases for the Colonials by walking, but Hannah Griffin secured the win for the Vikings by getting Saxen to fly out to right to end the game.
THE TWO HOLE
For the first time on the 2021 season, Higgins hit out of the No. 2 spot, finishing 2-for-4 with an RBI in the regular-season finale. Coupled with her 3-for-4 performance in game one, Higgins bumped her season average to .415 (59-for-142). She will enter the 2021 Horizon League Tournament just two runs shy of becoming the first student-athlete in program history to eclipse career totals of 200 hits, 100 runs and 100 RBI.
UP NEXT
RMU opens the
2021 #HLSB Tournament Thursday, May 13, at Noon against No. 1 seed Youngstown State in Youngstown, Ohio. The Penguins are the No. 1 seed, and the game can be seen live on ESPN+.
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