GAMES 24-26
RMU (14-9 / 3-0 #HLSB) @ UIC (4-16 / 1-4 #HLSB)
Friday, March 25, 2022 • Noon (DH)
Saturday, March 26, 2022 • 3:00 p.m.
Flames Field • Chicago, Ill.
 
Cracker Jack & Sunflower Seeds (Dubble Bubble, Too)
 
- The RMU softball team returns to Horizon League action with a three-game road series in Chicago, Ill., against UIC. The Colonials and Flames open the set Friday, March 25, with a doubleheader slated to begin at Noon before concluding the series Saturday, March 26, with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.
 
- RMU opened the home portion of its 2022 schedule by dropping a non-conference doubleheader to Akron (3/22) at the North Athletic complex. The Zips earned a 7-2 win in game one before posting a 9-4 victory in game two.
 
- Freshman Alaina Koutsogiani hit .429 (3-for-7) during the double dip against Akron, scoring a pair of runs and swiping three bases. She leads the Horizon League in stolen bases with 22.
 
- Fifth-year infielder Taylor Rhinehart, the reigning Horizon League Player of the Week, enters the series @ UIC riding a five-game hitting streak. During that stretch she is hitting .529 (10-for-19) with six runs, three doubles, three home runs and eight RBI. She paces the Colonials during the 2022 season with four dingers and 15 RBI.
 
- RMU opened its Horizon League slate with a three-game sweep of Detroit Mercy. The Colonials swept a doubleheader from the Titans, March 17, at Buysse Ballpark in Detroit, Mich., winning game one, 10-2, before earning a 14-8 triumph in the nightcap. The next morning RMU posted a 4-2 win over UDM in 10 innings to complete the three-game sweep.
 
- In the three-game series @ Detroit Mercy, the Colonials posted a slash line of .373/.397/.609 in scoring 28 runs. Fifth-year Taylor Rhinehart paced the offense, collecting a multi-hit effort in each game in producing a batting average of .615 (8-for-13) to go along with five runs, three doubles, two home runs and four RBI.
 
- In a poll of Horizon League head coaches, RMU was picked to finish fourth in the 2022 preseason poll. Tabbed as the favorite was Oakland, which was followed by Youngstown State and UIC. The Colonials are led by head coach Jexx Varner, who is in his fourth season at the helm of the program. He has posted a record of 61-76 (.445) in his tenure at RMU.
 
- RMU enters action this week ranked second in the Horizon League in batting average (.252) and fourth in earned run average (3.92). Youngstown State leads both categories at .283 and 3.25, respectively. The Colonials top the #HLSB leaderboard in stolen bases (33) and opponent batting average (.237).
 
- The Colonials return home to the North Athletic Complex after taking on the Flames this weekend. RMU welcomes Pitt for a 3:00 p.m. single game Wednesday, March 30, before hosting Cleveland State in a three-game series beginning Friday, April 1.

UIC LINKS
- Live Stats
- RMU Athletics Gameday App
 
The All-Time Series (UIC) – The Colonials and Flames have squared off eight times prior to this weekend's series in Chicago, Ill., with the all-time series between the two programs tied, 4-4 (.500). RMU and UIC split a four-game set last season at the North Athletic Complex in the first meeting between the two programs as Horizon League foes. Three of the four games were one-run affairs, with the Colonials posting victories of 2-1 and 6-5. In the four-game series, former outfielder and current volunteer assistant coach Natalie Higgins hit .500 (7-for-14) with five runs, a double, three home runs and seven RBI.
 
Comfort Zone – After posting just four at bats through her first seven games with the Colonials, freshman Jess Matheny has found her comfort zone, as the rookie outfielder enters RMU's series @ UIC this weekend having hit safely in six of her last seven games. During that span, Matheny is hitting .417 (10-for-24) with three runs, four doubles, her first NCAA Division I home run and seven RBI. Matheny has started each of the last seven contests for the Colonials and connected for her first round tripper in game one of RMU's three-game series @ Detroit Mercy (3/17), part of a 3-for-4 performance against the Titans in which she also doubled and drove in three runs.
 
Steal City – Led by freshman Alaina Koutsogiani, who has stolen 22 bases in 23 NCAA Division I games to begin her career, RMU leads the Horizon League in thefts so far during the 2022 campaign with 33. The Colonials have also received six steals from sophomore Julia Ehrman as well as four from fifth-year Alaina York and have an opportunity to establish a new team record in the category this season. The team record for stolen bases came during the 1991 season, when RMU finished with 68. The Colonials haven't notched 50 steals as a team since 2003 when posting 59.

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