Photo Credit: Tyler Gallo (RMU Sentry Media)

Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened the home portion of its 2022 slate Tuesday, falling in both ends of a non-conference doubleheader against Akron at the North Athletic Complex. The Zips earned a 7-2 win in game one before posting a 9-4 triumph in game two. The Colonials slipped to 14-9 (.609) overall during the 2022 season.
 
GAME 1 • L, 2-7

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Freshman Jess Matheny gave RMU an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second, doubling off the fence in center to drive home sophomore Charlotte Grover, who reached on an error to open the inning. Akron came back to tie the tilt in the top of the third, 1-1, thanks to an RBI double from Lexi Campbell. The Colonials were looking to grab the lead back in the home half of the third by loading the bases with one out, but Lexie Petrof, who improved to 3-5 on the year from the circle for the Zips, worked out of the jam. She struck out Grover before getting Matheny to ground out to first base to end the RMU threat.

BREAK OUT
Akron broke through in the top of the fourth, plating four runs in the inning to open up a 5-1 advantage. Morgan Cadmus supplied the big hit, a three-run home run to center off RMU starter Madison DeVault that gave the Zips a four-run lead. Jaidan Bryant added a two-run shot to left in the sixth to help seal the victory for Akron, while the Colonials settled the final score when fifth-year Taylor Rhinehart, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, hit a single to center to bring home freshman Anna Resnik with RMU's final run of the contest in the bottom of the seventh.
                                                                                                                               
QUOTABLE
"(Rhinehart) struggled a little bit back home, I guess, in the Pacific Northwest, but we gave her the second game of the Seattle series off just to try and clear her head and reset," RMU head coach Jexx Varner said of Taylor Rhinehart. "Sometimes you just need that. I think that's really shown by what she's done over the last five games. She earned that player of the week, for sure, and she had a good day today, as well."

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Cadmus reached base safely each of her three times at the dish in game one for Akron, walking twice in addition to her three-run dinger. RMU mustered only five hits off Petrof and Elizabeth Frederick, who came on in relief in the bottom of the fourth and struck out four in four innings of work. She allowed a pair of hits and walked a pair.
 
GAME 2 • L, 4-9

MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Colonials wasted no time in game two against the Zips, getting a three-run home run from Rhinehart to open up a 3-0 lead after the first inning. Freshman Alaina Koutsogiani singled up the middle to open the frame and stole second. Freshman Anna Resnik moved Koutsogiani to third with a ground out to second before senior Erika Bell drew a walk. Rhinehart deposited the first pitch from Sheridon Wilber over the fence in left field for her team-high fourth home run of the 2022 season and an early lead for RMU. Grover followed with a single to the right side, which spelled the end for Wilber, who got just one out before being pulled in favor of Emily Farlin.
 
THE BIG INNING
RMU starter Jane Garver cruised through four innings, holding the Zips to just two hits. Junior Rachael Rhinehart came on in relief of Garver in the top of the fifth, and Carley Auten led off the inning with a solo home run to left to get Akron (6-18) on the board. The Zips eventually knotted the score, 3-3, on an RBI single down the line in left field from Angela Cirone, and after Laurel DeVoe drew a walk, Garver was reinserted into the circle. Akron grabbed the lead, 4-3, on a walk by Atlantis Taufa before Bryant connected for her second home run in as many games, a grand slam that broke open the contest.
 
QUOTABLE
"We were trying to plan accordingly for the weekend," Verner said. "Jane has thrown really well in her last two starts and she's earned the ability to start in Horizon League play. I didn't want to burn her out in a midweek for UIC either Friday or Saturday. Ultimately, it bit us in the butt. We'll have discussions as a staff on things we can do to game plan better moving forward. As I told the team, we have a fresh start this weekend. We know what we're trying to do in the Horizon League. We didn't do our job today, but we can still have a winning week."
 
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Koutsogiani and Grover each finished with a pair of hits in game two against Akron, with Koutsogiani scoring a pair of runs and stealing a pair of bases. She notched three thefts in the doubleheader against the Zips, pushing her season total in stolen bases to 22. She needs just one more to tie the RMU single-season record of 23 that was established by Kelli Miller (1990-93) in 1990 and two more to break the mark.
 
UP NEXT
RMU heads back out onto the road in returning to Horizon League play, traveling to Chicago, Ill., for a three-game series at UIC. The Colonials and Flames open the series Friday, March 25, before playing a doubleheader Saturday, March 26.

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