GAMES 1-5
Runnin' Bulldog Classic
(Austin Peay, George Mason, Gardner-Webb)
Friday, Feb. 10, 2023 - Sunday, Feb. 12, 2023
Brinkley Stadium • Boiling Springs, N.C.
 
Cracker Jack & Sunflower Seeds (Dubble Bubble, Too)
 
- The RMU softball team opens its 2023 campaign with five games over three days in Boiling Springs, N.C., as part of the Runnin' Bulldog Classic, which is hosted by Gardner-Webb. The Colonials will open the new season Friday, Feb. 10, at 1:00 p.m. against Austin Peay and will follow by taking on George Mason with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch at Brinkley Stadium.
 
- The Colonials will face the Patriots twice during the Runnin' Bulldog Classic, also squaring off at 1:00 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 11. A pair with host Gardner-Webb closes the tournament, including Saturday, Feb. 11, at 5:00 p.m. and Sunday, Feb. 12, at 10:00 a.m.  
 
- RMU returns five starters from a 2022 squad that posted an overall record of 31-21 (.596), including a mark of 16-9 (.640) in the Horizon League. The Colonials advanced to the championship game of the 2022 #HLSB Tournament in eclipsing the 30-win plateau for the first time since 2013.
 
- The Colonials are led by head coach Jexx Varner, who is in his fifth season at the helm of the program. He has posted an overall record of 78-88 (.470) but since joining the Horizon League, Varner has guided RMU to an overall record of 56-40 (.583), including a mark of 36-23 (.610) in league play.
 
- In a poll of Horizon League head coaches, the Colonials were picked to finish second in the league in 2023. Oakland was tabbed as the favorite and received eight first-place votes in accruing 77 points, while RMU earned a first-place tally and compiled 68 points.
 
- RMU returns five starters from 2022, including its entire infield in Avery Winchell (1B), Anna Resnik (2B), Charlotte Grover (SS) and Alaina Koutsogiani (3B) and catcher Meadow Sacadura. Koutsogiani and Grover started all 52 games last year, while Resnik started 51 of RMU's 52 contests.
 
- Three of RMU's five pitchers return in 2023, including graduate student Dana Vatakis. In a team-high 24 appearances, Vatakis posted a 3.16 earned run average (ERA), striking out 101 in 106.1 innings and tying for team-high honors with eight victories from the circle. She also recorded a pair of saves.
 
- The pitching staff will also be bolstered by the return of Jane Garver and Madison DeVault.  Garver finished with a record of 5-3 in 17 appearances, including 14 starters, and struck out 54 batters, while DeVault finished 5-4 overall and struck out 32.
 
- Sophomore Alaina Koutsogiani is coming off a rookie season in which she led the Horizon League in stolen bases, establishing an RMU single-season record in the process with 38. She is just 21 thefts shy of establishing a new RMU career record, as the mark of 58 stolen bases was set by Kelli Miller (1990-93).
 
- Koutsogiani was named to the 2022 All-Horizon League Freshman Team, and she was joined by redshirt sophomore catcher Meadow Sacadura, who was also tabbed to the 2022 All-Horizon League Second Team. In 36 games, including 34 starts, Sacadura hit .313 (30-for-96) with six doubles, a pair of home runs and 13 RBI.
 
- RMU heads to Charleston, S.C., after taking part in the Runnin' Bulldog Classic. The Colonials will again play five games in three days against Rutgers, Syracuse and host College of Charleston as part of the Low Country Classic.

RUNNIN' BULLDOGS CLASSIC LINKS
- Live Stats vs. Gardner-Webb (2/11/23)
- Live Stats vs. Gardner-Webb (2/12/23)
 
The All-Time Series (Runnin' Bulldog Classic) – RMU owns a combined record of 4-4 (.500) against its three opponents in the Runnin' Bulldog Classic, including a 2-0 mark against Austin Peay. However, the Colonials haven't faced the Governors since March 15, 2003, when RMU earned a 3-1 win as part of the Orlando Rebel Games. RMU is 1-1 (.500) all-time against George Mason, splitting a doubleheader on the road back in 1992, while the Colonials are 1-3 (.250) against host Gardner-Webb. The Colonials are playing in the Runnin' Bulldog Classic for the second time in four years, as RMU finished 2-3 (.400) at the tournament  in 2020, dropping both of its games to host Gardner-Webb.
 
Super Grover – Junior Charlotte Grover enters the 2023 season as RMU's active leader offensively, as she has started each of her 84 games for the Colonials over the last two seasons. She owns a career .250/.334/.409 slash line and has produced career totals of 47 runs, 15 doubles, nine home runs, 48 RBI and 108 total bases. Named to the 2021 All-Horizon League Freshman Team, Grover finished second for the Colonials as a sophomore last season in multi-hit (9) and multi-RBI (8) efforts.
 
Defensively Speaking – RMU announced Samantha Santillo as an assistant coach last summer, as the former catcher for the Colonials returned to her alma mater. Santillo owns the RMU career record for putouts (1,110) and field percentage (.994), as she made just seven errors in 1,213 total chances during her career. Santillo has an opportunity to tutor a pair of defensive stalwarts in her first season for the Colonials in 2023, as redshirt sophomore catcher Meadow Sacadura notched a .991 fielding percentage last season, posting just two errors in 231 chances. Sophomore Anna Resnik, meanwhile, finished at .987, recording just a pair of miscues in 153 chances.
 
Local Flavor – Of the 20 student-athletes that make up the 2023 roster for RMU, half played their prep ball in the Western Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic League (WPIAL). That total includes transfer Courtney Poulich, who spent her freshman season at Liberty in 2022 but claimed both WPIAL and Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association (PIAA) Class AAA championships at Mount Pleasant in 2021. Poulich is one of six student-athletes that played in the WPIAL on RMU's 2023 roster that hail from Westmoreland County.

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