Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team concluded a three-game series with Cleveland State Sunday, posting a come-from-behind victory, 7-6, at the North Athletic Complex. The Colonials improved to 17-12 (.586) overall during the 2022 season, including 6-2 (.750) in the Horizon League.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Torrie Jenkins came on in the bottom of the sixth as the third pitcher of the game for the Vikings, and on her first pitch freshman
Alaina Koutsogiani greeted her by lifting a fly ball to right center that cleared the fence, tying the game, 6-6. Jenkins rebounded to get two quick outs, but
Erika Bell followed by launching RMU's second solo shot of the inning, a no-doubter, to right. Bell fell behind in the count, 0 and 2, and spoiled four consecutive pitches from Jenkins before sending the eighth pitch of the at bat onto the hill next to the scoreboard. The solo round trippers marked the third home runs of the 2022 season for both Koutsogiani and Bell.
QUOTABLE
"(Erika) is a great hitter," RMU head coach
Jexx Varner. "She's a gamer. We've said it from the very beginning. From her freshman year on, she's just a gamer. She shows up in the big moments. She hit a couple of ropes yesterday that were right at people and today, that's the way the game falls. Sometimes you hit bullets right at people, but you just keep going at it and you'll find your breaks. Today she really broke out and helped us win it."
HOW WE GOT HERE
Cleveland State (11-16 / 7-2 #HLSB) grabbed the early lead by plating a run in the top of the first, marking the third consecutive game against RMU the Vikings scored in the opening frame. RMU came back to tie it, 1-1, in the home half as Bell doubled to left center to score freshman
Anna Resnik. CSU added two runs in the top of the second and three more in the top of the third, owning a 6-2 lead after two-and-a-half innings. RMU picked up its second run in the bottom of the second thanks to an RBI single from Koutsogiani, while sophomore
Charlotte Grover hit a two-run home run to right center in the bottom of the third to trim RMU's deficit to 6-4.
QUOTABLE
"Offensively (Charlotte's) done really, really well," Varner said. "She's starting to find a groove that we knew she was capable of last year. She's starting to make those sophomore adjustments. We're excited to see her in the middle of the order and doing the things we know she is capable of."
V IS FOR VICTORY
Senior
Dana Vatakis relieved RMU starter
Jane Garver with two outs in the bottom of the third and sparkled the rest of the way, yielding just two hits and a walk over the final 4.1 frames. She struck out three and induced eight ground balls on 67 pitches. The biggest groundout came with one out in the top of the seventh. Courtney Fernette opened the inning with a walk, with Katie Holmes coming on to pinch run. Holmes promptly stole second and was sacrificed to third on a bunt by Kaelin Ettinger. Pinch hitter Alexa Sieger drew a 1-0 count before grounding the next pitch to short. Grover was playing in and held Holmes at third before throwing across the diamond to retire Sieger for the second out. Vatakis would seal the win for the Colonials by getting Kiera Frascone to ground out to second to end it.
SCOOTS & SNACKS
Out of the leadoff spot Koutsogiani finished 3-for-3 with a run, two RBI and a walk, reaching base each of her four times at the dish in the third game of the series against the Vikings Sunday. Joining Koutsogiani with a three-hit game was Bell, who finished 3-for-4 with a run and three RBI. Fifth-year
Taylor Rhinehart also singled down the line in left field in the bottom of the third, coming around to score on Grover's third dinger of the year, to extend her hitting streak to 11 games.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
RMU employs an infield that features three underclassmen and a fifth-year grad transfer in Rhinehart. At the keystone, Resnik picked up four putouts and five assists in Sunday's win against Cleveland State and in 29 games so far in 2022 has been flawless defensively. She owns a perfect fielding percentage on 74 chances, including 39 putouts and 35 assists.
UP NEXT
RMU heads back out on the road to continue Horizon League play, traveling to Highland Heights, Ky., for a three-game series against Northern Kentucky. Game one of the series is set for 4:00 p.m. Friday, April 8, and a doubleheader concludes the series Saturday, April 9.
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