GAMES 10-14
T-Mobile Crimson Classic
(Mercer, Alabama, Longwood, RMU)
Friday, March 3, 2023 to Sunday, March 5, 2023
Rhoads Stadium • Tuscaloosa, Ala.
 
Cracker Jack & Sunflower Seeds (Dubble Bubble, Too)
 
- The RMU softball team heads south for the third time to open its 2023 season this weekend, traveling to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take part in the T-Mobile Crimson Classic at Rhoads Stadium. The Colonials will open the tournament against Mercer Friday, March 3, at 1:30 p.m. and will also face the Bears Saturday, March 4, at 6:30 p.m.
 
- Also on the schedule this weekend in Tuscaloosa, Ala., is a pair of games against No. 9 Alabama Friday, March 3, and Saturday, March 4, while the Colonials conclude the tournament Sunday, March 5, with a 10:30 a.m. first pitch against Longwood.
 
- RMU finished 2-3 (.400) at the Low Country Classic last weekend in Charleston, S.C., at the Softball Stadium at Patriots Point. The Colonials fell in their opener to Rutgers before splitting a pair of games with both Syracuse and Charleston.
 
- Sophomore Alaina Koutsogiani led RMU at the Low Country Classic, producing a .308/.500/.462 slash line with three runs, a pair of doubles, two RBI and a 4-for-4 performance on the basepaths. During her career, Koutsogiani has been successful on 91.3 percent (42-for-46) of her attempts to steal.
 
- Redshirt sophomore catcher Meadow Sacadura and senior Avery Winchell each drove in four runs for the Colonials at the Low Country Classic and through the first nine games of the 2023 campaign own exactly half (11) of RMU's 22 RBI.
 
- Sophomore Madison DeVault led the pitching staff at the Low Country Classic, going 1-1 in the circle in three appearances, including a pair of starts. She struck out eight.
 
- In opening its 2023 campaign at the Runnin' Bulldog Classic in Boiling Springs, N.C., RMU posted a 2-2 (.500) record, knocking off Austin Peay (2/10) in its season opener, dropping a pair to George Mason and closing out the tournament with a triumph over host Gardner-Webb (2/11). The final day was canceled due to weather conditions.
 
- Senior Avery Winchell hit .385 (5-for-13) at the Runnin' Bulldog Classic, scoring a team-high four runs and also smacking a double. Junior Charlotte Grover, meanwhile, posted a .308/.357/.692 slash line with two runs, a pair of doubles, home run and three RBI.
 
- RMU returns five starters from a 2022 squad that finished with 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 posting its first 30-win season 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 a record of 82-93 (.469) but since joining the Horizon League RMU has notched an overall record of 60-45 (.571), 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.
 
- Alaina 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's final tournament of the 2023 regular season comes in Cookesville, Tenn., as the Colonials will take part in the Tennessee Tech Tournament Friday, March 10, and Saturday, March 11, after playing in the T-Mobile Crimson Classic.

T-MOBILE CRIMSON CLASSIC LINKS
- Live Stats
- Video @ Alabama (3/3/23)
- Video @ Alabama (3/4/23)
- RMU Athletics Gameday App
 
The All-Time Series (T-Mobile Crimson Classic) – Of the three teams the Colonials will face this weekend, RMU owns a combined record of 0-3. The Colonials have never faced Alabama in school history, dropped their only game against Mercer, 5-4, in eight innings 2016 in Boca Raton, Fla., and dropped a pair to Longwood (2/14/19) in Farmville, Va., to open the 2019 season.
 
Scoots – Sophomore Alaina Koutsogiani finished 4-for-4 in stolen bases last weekend at the Low Country Classic, her first four swipes of the 2023 campaign. Koutsogiani, who set an RMU single-season record for stolen bases (38) last year en route to being named to the 2022 All-Horizon League Freshman Team, pushed her career total in stolen bases to 42. That total is tied for fourth in the RMU career record book with former outfielder Gwen Leidy (1996-99). Koutsogiani is 17 thefts shy of establishing a new program standard that is currently held by Kelli Miller (1990-93) with 58.
 
Super Grover – Junior Charlotte Grover is RMU's active leader offensively, as she has started each of her 93 games for the Colonials over the last two seasons. She owns a career .249/.341/.412 slash line and has produced career totals of 50 runs, 17 doubles, 10 home runs, 51 RBI and 119 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.
 
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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