Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened an eight-game road trip in the Pacific Northwest Friday, splitting a pair of games with Portland State in Hillsboro, Ore., at Hillsboro Stadium. The Colonials fell in game one, 6-2, before rebounding to post an 8-1 victory in game two. The Colonials own an overall record of 10-2 (.833) during the 2022 season.
GAME 1 • L, 6-2
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Scoreless through three innings, the Colonials broke through in the top of the fourth. Outfielder
Alaina York opened the inning with a walk, and
Taylor Rhinehart followed with a double to right center that brought home York with the first run of the game. RMU loaded the bases with one out after the Rhinehart double gave the Colonials the early lead, but Olivia Grey was able to lock in, striking out
Meadow Sacadura before getting freshman
Anna Resnik to pop up to second and end the threat.
VIKING QUEST
Portland State jumped in front in the bottom of the fourth, plating four runs on four hits while also taking an advantage of an RMU error. Paetynn Lopez pushed the Vikings on top, 2-1, with a two-run double, and Mariah Rodriguez followed with an RBI single. The Vikings added a pair of insurance runs in the bottom of the fifth to grab a 6-1 lead, and that would be all that Grey would need from the circle for PSU. In improving to 7-1 on the season, she allowed just one earned run on six hits, working around six walks and striking out 10.
ZERO RES
Resnik extended her hitting streak to seven games in the opener of the doubleheader against Portland State, singling to left in the top of the sixth inning and finishing 1-for-4. York and Rhinehart each finished 1-for-3 for RMU, with York scoring a run and driving in another.
GAME 2 • W, 8-1
START ME UP
The Colonials wasted no time in the second game of the doubleheader against the Vikings, scoring five runs in the top of the first and chasing PSU starter Allicitie Frost after eight hitters. Freshman
Alaina Koutsogiani walked to open the contest and promptly stole second and third. York followed by also drawing a free pass, and Koutsogiani came home with the first run for RMU courtesy of a sacrifice fly to left from Rhinehart. Frost eventually loaded the bases with two outs, and freshman
Logan Black came through with the big hit, a grand slam that gave the Colonials a commanding lead.
ADDING ON
The Colonials added a trio of unearned runs in the top of the third inning to take an 8-1 advantage. Marisol Gaona, who relieved Frost, walked five in her 2.1 innings of work against the Colonials, including two of the first three hitters of the frame. York and Rhinehart made sure those walks led to runs, as each provided RBI singles.
Brittney Seibert scored after drawing the second walk of the inning and reached base four times in the second game, finishing 2-for-2 with a run and a pair of free passes.
STELLAR START
Junior
Rachael Rhinehart got the nod from the circle in game two at Portland State and improved to 4-0 on the year with her third complete game in as many starts to open the 2022 campaign. She allowed a run on four hits, striking out a career-high 10 and walking just two.
Rachael Rhinehart has held hitters to a .130 batting average so far this season and in 23 innings on the young season owns a team-high 22 strikeouts.
THIS AND THAT
Resnik reached base safely in each of her four plate appearances in the win for RMU but did not record an official at bat, keeping her seven-game hitting streak intact. In the game two victory against the Vikings, Resnik walked twice and was also hit by a pitch twice. She scored a run and through 12 games owns a .556 on-base percentage. Resnik's rookie teammate, Koutsogiani, finished 1-for-3 with two walks and a pair of runs scored in game two against Portland State. She also swiped three bags, pushing her season total to 15 in 12 games. Senior
Erika Bell, meanwhile, quietly finished 3-for-4 out of the cleanup spot of the order in the win, scoring a run in recording her second three-hit game of the year.
UP NEXT
RMU concludes a three-game series with PSU Saturday, March 5, with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch. Friday's games were moved to the turf at Hillsboro Stadium, but Saturday's matchup between the Colonials and Vikings is slated to be played on grass at the Gordon Faber Rec Complex.
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