Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team opened a five-game road swing Tuesday with a non-conference doubleheader at Akron. The Colonials dropped the opener, 2-1, before falling in the second game, 13-4, at Lee R. Jackson Field. RMU owns an overall record of 9-13 (.409) during the 2023 season.
GAME 1 • L, 2-1
SIX STRING
A pitcher's duel between junior
Jane Garver and Akron's Alexa Difeo, RMU broke a scoreless tie in the top of the sixth. Junior
Julia Ehrman singled up the middle to open the frame and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by sophomore
Alaina Koutsogiani. Sophomore
Anna Resnik followed with a liner to third for the second out, but Alexis Campbell of the Zips wasn't as lucky at the hot corner on the next at bat by the Colonials. Senior
Avery Winchell ripped a shot that Campbell almost corralled but caromed off her glove on a diving attempt. Ehrman, who was breaking for third on the pitch, never slowed down and scored on the infield single by Winchell to give the Colonials a 1-0 lead.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Garver was cruising for the Colonials, as she fell behind in the count to just three hitters all afternoon. She opened the bottom of the seventh by getting Morgan Lee to ground out to third and on the first pitch got Campbell to foul out to Winchell at first. Jaiden Bryant followed by reaching on an error, moving into scoring position in advancing to second on the miscue. Laurel DeVoe capitalized for Akron, as her RBI double tied the game, 1-1. Carley Auten came on to pinch run, while Abigail Scheller was inserted at designated player. On a 1-1 count Scheller singled to left, scoring Auten and giving the Zips a walk-off victory.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
In arguably the most efficient outing of her collegiate career, Garver allowed just five hits in 6.2 innings for RMU in tossing 83 pitches. She got nine flyouts and eight ground outs during the game and struck out a pair. DiFeo matched her on the other side, yielding three hits and a walk in seven innings. She struck out seven in throwing 90 pitches as both pitcher's faced 25 batters in the opener.
GAME 2 • L, 4-13 (5 innings)
FIRESTARTER
RMU opened with a bang in the second game, plating three runs in the top of the first on a pair of hits and taking advantage of an Akron error. Resnik singled with one out and Winchell and junior
Charlotte Grover each walked to load the bases. The big hit came courtesy of junior
Kinsey Ventura, as her single to right field brought home a pair and gave the Colonials a 3-0 lead.
ANSWERING
The Zips responded with three runs in the bottom half of the first, with Campbell providing the big hit, a two-run home run that knotted the game, 3-3. Akron (13-9) then broke the game open in the third, sending 13 batters to the plate in scoring nine runs on six hits. Bryant got a pair of hits in the inning, as her RBI double snapped the tie, scoring Campbell, while her single to right capped the scoring and gave the Zips a 12-3 cushion.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Resnik finished 2-for-2 with a run and a walk in game two and has now reached base safely in nine consecutive games. During that span she is hitting .391 (9-for-23) with eight runs, seven RBI, three doubles and a triple. She has also walked six times while striking out just once during that span.
UP NEXT
The Colonials return to Horizon League play, traveling to Green Bay for a three-game series. The opener is set for Friday, March 24, at 4:00 p.m. before a doubleheader Saturday, March 25. Weather permitting, as usually is this case.
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