Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team dropped its opening game of the 2023 Horizon League Championships Thursday at King Park in Green Bay, Wisc., falling to No. 3 seed Northern Kentucky, 2-1, in eight innings. The Colonials slipped to 24-22 (.522) overall during the 2023 season.
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Tied, 1-1, heading into extra innings, the Norse manufactured a run in the top of the eighth. Maddie Lacer opened the inning with a single to left to open the deciding rally and moved to third on an error that allowed Kayla Shymkewich to also get into scoring position. Megan Lenhart capitalized for Northern Kentucky (21-29), lifting a sacrifice fly to center to bring home Lacer with the eventual winning run.
OFF BALANCE
Lauryn Hicks, despite a bout of wildness, was able to keep the Colonials off balance from the circle for NKU. She recorded a career-high 18 strikeouts, including each of the first nine RMU outs of the contest. She opened by striking out the side in the first and issued a leadoff walk to senior
Avery Winchell in the second before setting each of the next three hitters down on strikes. In the bottom of the third and the Colonials trailing, 1-0, Hicks struck out the first two hitters before sophomore
Anna Resnik worked a walk. Redshirt sophomore
Meadow Sacadura followed with a single to right center, moving Resnik to third. Junior
Charlotte Grover earned the second free pass of the frame to load the bases, and a wild pitch brought Resnik home with the tying run. Hicks steadied, however, getting out of the jam by setting down Winchell swinging.
QUOTABLE
"We just didn't play well," RMU head coach
Jexx Varner said. "Obviously a tough one. Defensively we had too many miscues and offensively we didn't make our adjustments. We have to execute our job when we're out there. Whether we pressed a little bit or were going through the motions a little bit, either way we just didn't execute. We just have to get back on our game, keep our heads up and focus on the next one. We've been in this position before. It's the only thing left to do, so we have to face it head on."
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Fifth-year
Dana Vatakis took the hard-luck loss despite not allowing an earned run in the contest. She allowed seven hits and walked three while striking out five. Northern Kentucky grabbed an early 1-0 advantage in the third as Jena Rhoads drove in Ella LeMonier with a sacrifice fly. LeMonier singled with one out but moved to third on a throwing error, setting up Rhoads with the opportunity to drive in the game's first run. Vatakis has given up just one earned run in her last four starts, fashioning an ERA of 0.27 during that span.
UP NEXT
RMU will square off with No. 6 seed Youngstown State Friday, May 12, at 1:00 p.m. in an elimination game at King Park. A victory over the Penguins sets up another elimination game at 6:00 p.m. against either Oakland or Northern Kentucky.
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