Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team completed a perfect Winthrop Invitational Sunday, finishing 5-0 in the tournament thanks to a 14-12 win over Albany in Rock Hill, S.C., at Eagle Field. In earning their sixth consecutive victory overall, the Colonials improved to 9-1 (.900) during the 2022 season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
In a game that featured a little bit of everything, each team finished with 12 hits and five errors, and each team had three separate innings that featured three or more runs. The Great Danes got it started with three in the top of the first inning before plating another run in the second frame. The seesaw affair began in the bottom of the second, when RMU scored five runs on just three hits while taking advantage of a pair of errors by Albany. The big hit of the inning came courtesy of freshman
Logan Black, who connected for her first NCAA Division I home run, a two-run shot to center, that tied the contest, 4-4.
YOUR TURN
Despite falling behind, 5-4, after three innings, the Great Danes responded with four in the top of the third. Like RMU in the bottom of the second, Albany took advantage of a pair of miscues by the Colonials to take an 8-4 lead. Sky Ossman put the Great Danes back on top, 6-5, with an RBI single, while Albany scored the final two runs of the frame on wild pitches.
BACK AND FORTH
No lead seemed to be safe Sunday, with the Great Danes allowing a four-run advantage to slip away and then falling behind again, 9-8, and letting a three-run lead go. The long ball was again the difference in bottom of the third inning for the Colonials, as sophomore
Catalina Saxen provided a three-run, pinch hit dinger to left field that gave RMU a one-run cushion. It marked the second consecutive day Saxen collected an extra base hit when pinch hitting, as she drove a double to left center in an 8-0 win over Towson (2/19) that scored the seventh run of the contest.
NATIONWIDE IS ON YOUR SIDE
In the bottom of the fifth RMU broke the game open with five more runs, including an RBI single from sophomore
Julia Ehrman and a two-run single by fifth-year outfielder
Alaina York. Ehrman was part of the bottom half of the order that again came through for the Colonials against Albany, with the seventh, eighth and ninth spots in the order combining to finish 8-for-11 (.727) with eight runs and 10 RBI.
NEEDED THEM ALL
The Great Danes rallied in the final frame, scoring four runs before RMU was able to close the door. Freshman
Madison DeVault, who earned the win in relief of sophomore
Jane Garver to improve to 3-0 on the 2022 campaign, gave up a leadoff double to Maddi Petrella to open the inning. An error and a pair of passed balls helped the Great Danes to rally, and junior
Rachael Rhinehart eventually relieved DeVault. She allowed a leadoff double that pulled Albany to within 14-11 but steadied the ship, giving up a sack fly before getting Katie Falotico to pop up to short and striking out Maranda Jimenez to end the game.
THE SAFETY DANCE
Out of the leadoff spot against Albany, freshman
Alaina Koutsogiani finished 2-for-3 with a pair of runs, a walk and a stolen base as one of three Colonials to post a multi-hit effort. Koutsogiani is one of five Colonials to start each of RMU's first 10 games of the 2022 season and has reached safely in each of them, posting an on-base percentage of .500 while going 9-for-10 in stolen bases. Fellow rookie
Anna Resnik, meanwhile, notched her second three-point game of the young season against the Great Danes and concluded the Winthrop Tournament with a .529 batting average (9-for-17) with a team-high six runs.
UP NEXT
RMU heads west for its next action. Visiting Portland State for a three-game series Friday, March 4, and Saturday, March 5. The Colonials will also visit Oregon State (3/7), Washington (3/8) and Seattle (3/9) during its trip.
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