Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened Horizon League play Thursday, sweeping a doubleheader from Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Mich., at Buysse Field. The Colonials scored 24 runs and racked up 33 hits in the sweep, earning a 10-2 win in game one before a come-from-behind, 14-7, triumph in game two. RMU improved to 13-7 (.650) overall during the 2022 season with the pair of victories.
GAME 1 • W, 10-2
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Playing for the first time in a week, the Colonials grabbed an early 1-0 advantage in the top of the first inning against UDM starter Liz Murphy. Freshman
Anna Resnik singled to right with one out, and senior
Erika Bell followed by doubling to center, bringing home the game's first run. RMU added two more in the third. Fifth-year outfielder
Alaina York singled to lead off the frame and came around to score when a single to center by freshman
Alaina Koutsogiani was misplayed in center field. Bell picked up her second RBI of the contest by grounding out.
ADDING ON
Freshman
Jess Matheny helped give the Colonials a 4-0 lead with an RBI single in the sixth, which began a span in which RMU scored 21 runs over its next eight innings stretching into the second game of the double dip. Six runs crossed the plate in top of the seventh, which was capped by Matheny. She connected for her first collegiate home run, a two-run shot to left center that gave RMU an eight-run lead. Matheny finished 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI as one of a pair of Colonials to collect three hits in the win. Fifth-year
Taylor Rhinehart went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, including a double in the final frame that opened up an 7-2 advantage for RMU. Rhinehart finished with a pair of doubles as the Colonials finished with eight extra base hits in the win.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The offensive outburst made a winner out of senior
Dana Vatakis, who allowed just one earned run in the complete game victory. She allowed five hits and four free passes but struck out six. Vatakis improved to 3-3 from the circle for RMU during the 2022 campaign.
GAME 2 • W, 14-8
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Titans (0-14 / 0-4 #HLSB), who happened to be playing their first set of home games since 2019, a span of over 1,000 days, jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the bottom of the first on the aid of just a pair of hits. The big knock, however, came courtesy of Jordyn Chapman, who took RMU starter
Rachael Rhinehart deep to left for a three-run home run and a five-run cushion. The Colonials closed to within 5-3 in the top of the second, but Jaiden Lara got in on the long ball act with a two-run home run in the bottom of the inning, pushing Detroit Mercy's lead to 7-3.
CHIP AWAY, EXPLODE
Taylor Rhinehart came on in relief of her sister in the bottom of the second and helped her cause in the top half of the third. Bell singled to right with one out, and on a 1-1 count Rhinehart sent a pitch from Murphy over the fence in left for a two-run home run, again making it a two-run contest. In the fourth, however, RMU took control, plating six runs on six hits. Bell tied the game with a two-run single up the middle that scored both York and senior
Brittney Seibert.
Taylor Rhinehart followed with an infield single before sophomore
Charlotte Grover smacked a two-run double to center that gave the Colonials the lead for good, 9-7. Freshman
Bailee Bertani capped the six-run fourth with her first two collegiate RBI, as her single to right center scored Grover and Rhinehart.
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Seven different Colonials registered a multi-hit game in the nightcap, including three hits each from Bell,
Taylor Rhinehart, Matheny and Seibert. As a team, RMU finished with a season-high 19 hits in the win. In the doubleheader sweep, Matheny finished 6-for-8 with three runs and five RBI, while
Taylor Rhinehart was also 6-for-8, finishing with five runs and four RBI.
Taylor Rhinehart also improved to 2-0 from the circle for the Colonials, allowing just two hits in 4.1 innings while striking out a pair.
UP NEXT
A series win secured, RMU looks for its first three-game series sweep as a member of the Horizon League Friday with an 11:00 a.m. first pitch at Buysse Ballpark.
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