Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened an eight-game homestand at the North Athletic Complex Friday, sweeping a doubleheader from IUPUI. The Colonials posted a 3-1 win in game one before completing the sweep in walk-off fashion with three runs in the bottom of the seventh en route to a 4-3 triumph. The Colonials improved to 21-13 (.618) overall during the 2022 season, including 10-3 (.769) in the Horizon League.
GAME 1 • W, 3-1
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU scored a pair of runs in the bottom of the fourth, taking advantage of a pair of walks to score all the runs the Colonials would need. Sophomore
Charlotte Grover led off the inning by drawing a free pass and advanced to second on a wild pitch from IUPUI (9-28 / 6-8 #HLSB) starter Madison Bryant. Redshirt freshman
Meadow Sacadura capitalized for RMU, ripping a single down the line in right field to bring home Grover with the game's first run. The Colonials eventually loaded the bases thanks to a walk by sophomore
Catalina Saxen and a single down the line in left from junior
Avery Winchell. Bryant was able to get the first out of the frame as fifth-year
Alaina York flew out to center, but freshman
Alaina Koutsogiani brought home the second run by reaching on a fielder's choice. Winchell was forced out at second on a grounder to short, but Koutsogiani easily beat out the throw for the double play as Sacadura crossed the plate.
VICTORY BREWING
RMU added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth after the Jaguars cut their deficit in half in the top of the fourth. The free pass was again the difference. Saxen and Winchell each drove the count full before walking, and York advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Koutsogiani loaded the bases with a bunt single before freshman
Anna Resnik scored Saxen with a groundout to third. RMU worked seven walks off Bryant in the victory, as Saxen didn't record an official at bat thanks to a trio of free passes.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Senior
Dana Vatakis earned the win from the circle in game one, striking out eight in six innings while walking just a pair. She induced 10 groundouts and improved to 6-4 on the year for the Colonials. Fifth-year
Taylor Rhinehart came on to pitch the seventh and despite allowing a leadoff bunt single got the next three outs to lock down her fourth save of the 2022 season.
QUOTABLE
"It's always great to play at home," RMU head coach
Jexx Varner. "Love the atmosphere here, and you get a chance to get into a rhythm. So much of what this is at this point in the year is rhythm. The cancellations are a pain for that, but as we move through the last three weeks of the season, especially with so many games at home, hopefully we can keep that momentum going."
GAME 2 • W, 4-3
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Jaguars wasted no time grabbing the early lead in game two, as Morgan Gilbert and Rachael Gregory opened the game with back-to-back singles off RMU starter
Rachael Rhinehart. On the single to left by Gregory, Gilbert advanced to third, and fifth-year
Erika Bell tried to get the lead runner but her throw was off the mark. Gilbert trotted home with the game's opening run to give IUPUI a 1-0 lead. Rhinehart was able to get two quick outs before Hailey Pop poked a single to center to bring home Gregory. Abbey Haas would give IUPUI a 3-0 lead in the fourth inning, connecting for a solo shot to left with one out, her second home run of the season.
STYMIED
Isabelle Waggner kept the Colonials off balance the majority of the contest, yielding just four hits through her first five innings of work. She threw just 75 pitches in the contest, but RMU finally broke through on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth. Waggner opened the frame by getting Bell to pop up to short and striking out Grover before Sacadura took the first offering for a ball. On the next pitch Sacadura connected for her first home run of the season, lifting the ball over the fence in right to become the 10th different member of the Colonials to go yard this season. That set up RMU's theatrics in its final at bat of the contest.
PERFECT TIMING
RMU opened the floodgates in the bottom of the seventh, earning the doubleheader sweep by scoring three runs on three hits. Winchell opened the inning with a frozen rope to left and moved to second on a passed ball. Freshman
Bailee Bertani grounded one back to Waggner on the next at bat, but Winchell beat the throw to third, setting up the Colonials with runners on the corners. York followed by placing the perfect bunt, with Winchell holding at third and York reaching to load the bases. Koutsogiani fell behind in the count by swinging through the first offering from Waggner and fouling off the next before lacing a ball right past third base and into left field. Winchell and Bertani each scored, knotting the game, 3-3.
Taylor Rhinehart was called on to pinch hit, and after working the count full she drilled one to Gilbert at short. Koutsogiani broke for third as soon as the ball was hit, and Gilbert threw to third, allowing York to score the winning run.
QUOTABLE
"We were a little bit more patient in the seventh," Varner said. "We got out of our game plan because we saw strikes. We got really wide eyed, got jammed up and were popping things up early in the count. We were a little more patient in the seventh to just find a way to make it happen. That's not only making the right adjustments but the heart of this team. They always believe they have a chance."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sacadura and York each collected a pair of hits in game two, while Bell and Grover each extended their streak of safely reaching base against Horizon League foes to 13 games. Bell singled in game one and drew a walk in the second game, while Grover worked a pair of free passes in the series opener and singled in the night cap. Overall Bell has now reached base safely in 16 straight contests, the longest streak by a member of the Colonials this season.
HART TO HART
Rachael Rhinehart earned the victory in the circle thanks to the come-from-behind triumph, improving to 7-4 on the season. She scattered nine hits and walked four but struck out seven in throwing 119 pitches. It marked Rhinehart's team-high sixth complete game of the year.
UP NEXT
RMU concludes the three-game series against the Jaguars Saturday, April 16, with 1:00 p.m. first pitch.
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