Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened play in the Low Country Classic Friday, hosted by Charleston, at the Softball Stadium at Patriots Point, earning a split on the first day of action. The Colonials fell in the tourney opener, 10-1 in six innings to Rutgers, before rebounding to post an 8-3 triumph in their first-ever meeting against Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) foe Syracuse. RMU owns an overall record of 3-3 (.500) during the 2023 campaign.
GAME 1 • L, 1-10 (6) • vs. Rutgers
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
RMU jumped on the board in the top of the third, plating a run off starter Jaden Vickers of the Scarlet Knights. Junior
Kinsey Ventura worked the count full before drawing a free pass to open the frame before advancing to second on wild pitch. Sophomore
Julia Ehrman followed with an infield single and two batters later redshirt sophomore
Meadow Sacadura got ahead in the count against Vickers before singling to right to score Venture with the game's first run.
RED DAWN
Rutgers (9-2) got a run in the bottom of the third to tie it, 1-1, before taking control by scoring five in the fifth and securing the win with four more in the sixth. The big hit in the fifth came courtesy of Katie Wingert, who doubled to left center with the bases full to score all three runners as the Scarlet Knights grabbed a 5-1 advantage. Morgan Smith, who had broken the 1-1 stalemate in the bottom of the fifth by drawing a bases loaded walk, capped the victory with a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Rutgers finished with a pair of doubles and also went yard twice in collecting 11 hits. Ryann Orange finished 3-for-3 with a home run and three runs, while Smith was 2-for-3 and drove in four. Also collecting a hit for the Colonials was sophomore
Anna Resnik, who was 1-for-2 and also drew one of RMU's five walks during the morning contest.
GAME 2 • W, 8-6 • vs. Syracuse
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Sophomore
Alaina Koutsogiani doubled to left to bring home the game's first run in the top of the second, as Resnik scored from first after drawing a four-pitch walk to open the frame. Madison Knight settled down to retire the next two hitters for the Orange, but senior
Avery Winchell singled through the right side to bring home Koutsogiani and push the lead for the Colonials to 2-0.
BREAK OUT
While the Colonials scored two runs in the top of the second inning, they mustered just two hits in the top of the third. However, RMU plated six in the inning with the help of a fielding error by Syracuse, a wild pitch and back-to-back bases loaded walks. Winchell walked on four pitches to score Koutsogiani with RMU's third run of the frame, and junior
Faith Miller followed by working the count full before drawing another free pass to score Ventura. Sacadura would cap the scoring by lacing a two-run single to center to help RMU open up an 8-0 advantage, which came seven batters after Resnik collected the first hit of the inning, a one-out single to right center. In all, RMU drew six walks in the sixth.
EVERY RUN COUNTS
Syracuse (3-5) got three runs back in the bottom of the third to close to within 8-3 and made a run of it in the home half of the seventh off RMU starter
Madison DeVault. DeVault induced a fly ball to left to open the inning before an error allowed the Orange to start their rally. Madelyn Lopez drew a four-pitch walk before being sacrificed over to put a pair in scoring position for Syracuse, which scored each of its three runs with two outs. Jude Padilla singled to left to bring home the first run, and Tessa Galipeau brought home two more with single to left.
CLOSE OUT
Kate Dorazio came on as a pinch runner for Galipeau in the bottom of the seventh and advanced to third after Trinity Nichols singled to right. Angel Jasso, the potential winning run, followed by working the count full before drawing a walk, loading the bases. DeVault followed by falling behind Geana Torres, 3-1, but steadied and slammed the door, ending the game by striking her out swinging. In locking down her first career seven-inning complete game, DeVault allowed just three earned runs on eight hits while striking out three. She worked around seven walks on the afternoon.
UP NEXT
RMU continues play at the Low Country Classic Saturday with a pair of games. The Colonials open with a 12:30 p.m. first pitch in a rematch of Friday's win against Syracuse before taking on the host Cougars at 5:30 p.m.
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