Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team concluded its first series in Horizon League play Friday, earning a 4-2 win in 10 innings over Detroit Mercy in Detroit, Mich., at Buysse Ballpark. The Colonials improved their overall record during the 2022 season to 14-7 (.667), including 3-0 in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Scoreless through four, the Colonials broke through in the top of the fifth, as an RBI triple from freshman
Alaina Koutsogiani brought home senior
Brittney Seibert with the first run of the contest. RMU held that lead until the bottom of the sixth, when Renee Trotman homered off sophomore starter
Jane Garver to knot the game, 1-1. The score remained that way through seven, sending the Colonials to extra innings for the third time this season.
EXTRA EXTRA
Both teams had a runner reach base in the eighth, but neither RMU or UDM was able to scratch a run across the plate. Heading to the ninth, sophomore
Charlotte Grover led off with a double to left. Freshman
Jess Matheny followed with a sacrifice bunt to move Grover to third, and freshman
Logan Black came through for the Colonials, lifting a fly ball to right to on a 1-0 count off Titans starter Chloe Spitzer that brought home Grover and gave RMU a 2-1 lead. In bottom half of the inning, Garver induced Leena Mortenson to pop up to second for the first out, but Taryn Peru homered to center for Detroit Mercy (0-15 / 0-6 #HLSB) to tie the contest, 2-2, for the second time. That spelled the end for Garver, who pitched 8.1 innings, striking out five and walking three. Junior
Rachael Rhinehart came on in relief and after allowing a two-out single to Jordan Hazel struck out Keira Morrow to send the game to the 10th.
TEN
RMU manufactured the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th thanks to an error from the Titans. Koutsogiani reached on an error at short by Peru and promptly stole her second bag of the tilt to move into scoring position. Freshman
Anna Resnik followed by lacing a double down the right field line to bring home her fellow rookie teammate and put the Colonials on top, 3-2. RMU added an insurance run three batters later when Grover's infield single brought home Resnik. The cushion would be enough for Rhinehart, who set the Titans down in order in the bottom half of the frame to secure the three-game series sweep.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The Colonials racked up 28 runs in the three-game series by producing a team slash line of .373/.397/.609, collecting a whopping 18 extra base hits, including 13 doubles. Koutsogiani, fifth-year
Taylor Rhinehart and Grover each finished 2-for-5 Sunday, with Koutsogiani and Grover each scoring a run and driving in another. Rhinehart earned the victory from the circle in relief of Garner, improving to 5-1 (.833) overall on the year. So far this season Rhinehart has held opponents to a .164 batting average, which tops the Horizon League. Thanks to Sunday's win, the Colonials improved to 3-0 in conference play for the first time since 2017 as well as 3-0 in 2022 when heading to extra innings.
UP NEXT
RMU looks to get its 2022 home opener in Tuesday, March 23, when it welcomes Akron to the North Athletic Complex for a doubleheader. First pitch is slated for 2:00 p.m.
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