Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team wrapped up its 2022 regular season Sunday, dropping a pair of one-run affairs in extra innings to Youngstown State at YSU Softball Field. The Colonials fell in eight innings in game one, 6-5, before dropping a 3-2 decision in 10 innings in game two. RMU enters the 2022 #HLSB Tournament with an overall record of 27-19 (.587) and finished 16-9 (.640) in the Horizon League, finishing fourth in the standings.
GAME 1 • L, 5-6 (8 innings)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Penguins broke through in the top of the third inning off RMU starter
Taylor Rhinehart, plating four runs thanks to a two-run home run from Conchetta Rinaldi as well as a two-run single by Grace Cea. It marked the first earned runs that Rhinehart allowed against a Horizon League foe during the 2022 season. Youngstown State leadoff hitter Yazmine Romero added an RBI single in the top of the sixth to give the Penguins a 5-0 advantage as the Colonials could muster just three hits through the first five innings of action.
HONEY BUNCHES OF RUNS
YSU starter Sophie Howell was pulled in the bottom of the fifth in favor of Elle Buffenbarger, and she was greeted with a home run to left to leadoff the inning from Rhinehart to put RMU on the board. Freshman
Anna Resnik followed by drawing a walk, and fellow rookie
Bailee Bertani jumped on the first pitch she saw from Buffenbarger and launched it over the fence in left center for her first NCAA Division I home run to pull the Colonials to within 5-3. Junior
Avery Winchell singled to right after the two-run shot from Bertani, spelling the end for Buffenbarger, with Howell heading back to the circle. Winchell advanced on a passed ball and then moved to third on an infield single from senior
Brittney Seibert. Freshman
Alaina Koutsogiani capitalized, lacing a single to left to score Winchell and pull RMU to within 5-4. Fifth-year
Alaina York put two runners in scoring position with a sacrifice bunt, and fellow fifth-year
Erika Bell lifted a fly ball to left center that was deep enough to score Seibert with the tying run. In all, RMU had five consecutive hitters reach safely in erasing a 5-0 deficit.
EXTRA INNINGS
Romero drew a walk with one out in the top of the eighth for the Penguins, one of her four times on base in the first game, and eventually moved to third on a single to center with two outs from Rinaldi. Freshman
Madison DeVault got ahead of Hailey Roach, getting her to foul off two of the first three pitches of the at bat. However, a wild pitch that got behind Bertani allowed Romero to scoot home with the go-ahead run. The Colonials tried to answer in the home half of the eighth, but after York drew a walk with two outs, Bell flied out to center to end the game.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Rhinehart finished 3-for-3 with her team-high fifth home run of the season out of the cleanup spot for RMU and from the circle pitched 5.1 innings, yielding four earned runs. She struck out four and walked a pair. It marked the third three-hit game of the season for the Woodinville, Wash., native.
GAME 2 • L, 2-3 (10 innings)
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Scoreless through four, Youngstown State (32-22 / 17-9 #HLSB) manufactured a run in the top of fifth off RMU starter
Jane Garver. Bree Kohler drew a leadoff walk before Elyssa Imler laid down a bunt single. Romero tried to advance them over with a sacrifice bunt, but she popped the ball into foul territory, with Bertani securing the first out. Kohler stole third before Taylor Truran walked, loading the bases for Rinaldi, who capitalized by lifting a 1-1 pitch to left that was deep enough to score Kohler with a sacrifice fly.
ANSWERING
RMU got that run right back in similar fashion in the home half of the fifth, as York walked to open the frame before Koutsogiani was hit by a pitch. Two batters later Rhinehart continued her stellar day at the dish, slicing a single to right that brought home York to tie it, 1-1.
BACK IN FRONT
In the top of the sixth, Nikki Saibene singled to left to open the inning and was replaced by pinch runner Sydney Payne. Payne stole second with one out, and the throw from Bertani sailed into center field, allowing Payne to move up another 60 feet. Cea followed with a single to left off Garver to push the Penguins back in front, 2-1.
ANSWERING PART DEUX
RMU got the tying run in similar fashion and down to their final out of the contest. Koutsogiani walked with one out and stole second on a strikeout of Bell. The throw from Rinaldi, however, trickled into center field, allowing Koutsogiani to advance 60 feet. A duck on the pond, Rhinehart came through yet again, as her single to left brought Koutsogiani home to knot the score for the second time, 2-2.
FREE SOFTBALL
RMU loaded the bases in both the home half of the ninth and 10th innings against Youngstown State but was unable to bring the winning run home. Winchell struck out to end the threat in the ninth, while sophomore
Charlotte Grover popped up to Buffenbarger in the 10th to end the contest. YSU got the winning run in the top of the 10th thanks to an RBI single from Avery Schumacher. Buffenbarger, who was tagged for four runs in the opening game of the double dip without recording an out, earned her 21st win from the circle in the night cap. She pitched all 10 innings, tossing 213 pitches, allowing nine hits and six walks while striking out 13.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
The back-to-back extra inning contests marked the first time since the first two games of the 2022 campaign RMU played consecutive games that went into extra innings. RMU won a pair of games @ North Carolina A&T (2/11) in eight innings to open the season. The Colonials slipped to 4-3 (.571) this year when a game has been tied after seven while also sliding to 4-5 (.444) in one-run contests.
BOTTOM LINE
Youngstown State, by virtue of winning the first two games of the series, secured the opportunity to host the 2022 Horizon League Tournament. The Penguins earned the No. 3 seed with the game two win Sunday, bumping the Colonials to the No. 4 seed. Oakland claimed the 2022 Horizon League No. 1 seed and regular-season championship with a mark of 18-7 (.720) in league play. The top four seeds of the tournament concluded the year separated by just two games.
UP NEXT
RMU will take on No. 5 seed Green Bay at Noon in the first game of the 2022 Horizon League Tournament Wednesday, May 11, at the YSU Softball Field in Youngstown, Ohio. The winner of that contest will advance to face No. 1 seed Oakland Thursday, May 12, at Noon.
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