Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team stretched its winning streak to three Saturday in closing the Tennessee Tech Tournament with a pair of victories. The Colonials opened with a 4-3 win over Ohio before posting a 12-3 triumph over the host Golden Eagles in five innings. RMU improved to 8-10 (.444) overall during the 2023 season.
GAME 1 • W, 4-3 • vs. Ohio
STRONG START
Just two batters into the contest RMU owned a 1-0 advantage on the Bobcats. Sophomore
Alaina Koutsogiani singled to left, stole second and came home on an RBI double to left center from sophomore
Anna Resnik. The Colonials added two more in the fifth thanks to smart baserunning. Senior
Avery Winchell and junior
Charlotte Grover each drew walks off Ohio starter Skip Miller with two outs. Redshirt sophomore
Meadow Sacadura followed with an infield single to the right side, with Winchell scurrying around third and racing home to score to give RMU a 2-0 edge. On the next at bat, pinch hitter
Catalina Saxen drew a walk on a wild pitch, and this time the deft baserunning came courtesy of Grover, who advanced to third and also scampered home to give the Colonials a 3-0 lead.
ANSWERING
Fifth-year
Dana Vatakis cruised through five innings in the opener Saturday before the Bobcats (8-12) struck in the sixth. Back-to-back singles and a fielder's choice loaded the bases for Ohio, with Alexis Dawe coming through with a single through the right side that brought in a pair and trimmed RMU's advantage to 3-2. Sophomore
Madison DeVault came on in relief and got the second out, but an RBI single from Shelby Westler tied the contest, 3-3.
BUILDING CHARACTER
RMU bounced right back in the top of the seventh, with Resnik opening the frame with a walk to put the go-ahead run on base. Winchell laid down a sacrifice bunt to move Resnik to second, Grover moved her to third with a groundout and Sacadura came through in the clutch again, as her RBI single to right pushed the Colonials back on top, 4-3. DeVault closed out the win by striking out the final two batters, including Tori O'Brien looking and Yasmine Logan swinging.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
DeVault earned the win from the circle against the Bobcats, improving to 4-3 on the season, while Koustogiani and Sacadura each produced multi-hit efforts. The top five hitters against Ohio finished 5-for-15 (.333) at the dish, scoring each of the four runs and driving in three while also registering three stolen bases. In addition to Koutsogiani's theft in the first inning, Resnik and Winchell also swiped bags as the Colonials evened their record this season in one-run affairs at 3-3 (.500).
GAME 2 • W, 12-3 • @ Tennessee Tech (5)
TENNESSEE TOP
The Golden Eagles grabbed a 2-0 advantage with a pair in the bottom of the first, but the Colonials tied it, 2-2, in the top of the third. Sacadura produced an RBI single that scored Koutsogiani and Resnik, as each opened the inning with a free pass. Tennessee Tech jumped back in front, 3-2, in the bottom of the frame thanks to an RBI single from Carmen Betts, but RMU took control in the top of the fifth.
THE BIG INNING
A day after
12 Colonials visited the plate in an inning in a 12-3 win over TTU, RMU went one batter better Saturday. The Colonials scored 10 runs in the top of the fifth, sending 13 hitters to the dish and taking advantage of a hit by pitch and four walks. Koutsogiani started the rally by getting plunked by a Callie Piper pitch and stealing second and third, her third and fourth stolen bases of the contest. Resnik followed with a triple to right center to bring home the tying run and ignite RMU. Six different Colonials drove in a run during the outburst, including RBI singles from Sacadura, junior
Kinsey Ventura and Grover, a bases loaded walk from junior
Faith Miller and a two-run double from Winchell. Each of RMU's four hits in the inning produced a run as the Colonials also took advantage of a pair of TTU errors.
IN THE CLUTCH
The first three hitters in the order for the Colonials in the win against the Golden Eagles combined to score seven runs and drive in four, with Sacadura the beneficiary for RMU. She finished 2-for-4 with a run and three RBI against Tennessee Tech and is proving to come up clutch in big situations. Sacadura is hitting .476 (10-for-21) this season with a runner in scoring position, has driven in seven with two outs and is also a perfect 2-for-2 with the bags full of Colonials.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Koutsogiani swiped four bases Saturday against the Golden Eagles and finished a perfect 8-for-8 during the Tennessee Tech Tournament on the basepaths. Already the single-season record holder for stolen bases and closing in on the career mark, the four thefts Saturday for Koutsogiani against the Golden Eagles are the most on record in a single game in RMU history. Five different Colonials have pilfered three bags in a game previously. As a team at the Tennessee Tech Tournament, RMU finished 14-for-15 in stolen bases.
UP NEXT
The Colonials open Horizon League action next weekend, returning to the North Athletic Complex for the first time during the 2023 season. RMU welcomes Detroit Mercy for a three-game series that is slated to begin Friday, March 17, with a 3:00 p.m. first pitch in the single game.
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