Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team saw its 2023 season come to a close Friday at the 2023 Horizon League Championships with a 2-0 loss to No. 6 seed Youngstown State in Green Bay, Wisc., at King Park. The Colonials conclude the 2023 season with an overall record of 24-23 (.511).
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
The Penguins snapped a scoreless game in the top of the fourth, plating both of the game's only runs. Avery Schumacher would reach on an error with one out, and Taylor Truran followed with a double to left center that put a pair of runners in scoring position for Youngstown State. Hailey Roach would capitalize, singling through the left side to bring home both runners and give YSU (27-27) a lead it would never relinquish.
IN THE TRENCHES
RMU just couldn't get its offense going in the 2023 Horizon League Championships, as RMU mustered just three hits off Youngstown State starter Sophie Howell Friday. Redshirt sophomore
Meadow Sacadura was hit by a pitch on the second at bat of the afternoon for the Colonials, but she was cut down at second on a fielder's choice as Howell set down seven consecutive before sophomore
Anna Resnik walked with two outs in the third. RMU collected its first hit in the bottom of the fourth when junior
Charlotte Grover singled to center.
THE CIRCLE
Junior
Jane Garver got the start Friday and lasted 3.1 innings, allowing an earned run. Fifth-year
Dana Vatakis came on in relief after the two-run single from Roach in the fourth and struck out three in 3.2 hitless innings to close out her career at RMU. Vatakis did not allow an earned run in her final 25.2 innings of work in 2023 and posted a 1.96 earned run average (ERA) in her final season, becoming the seventh different pitcher in program history to finish the year with an ERA below 2.00. Garver, meanwhile, posted a 7-4 record from the circle to lead the Colonials while fashioning an ERA of 2.97.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Sacadura reached base safely in each of RMU's final 19 games of the 2023 season after being plunked in the first inning by Howell. It matches the longest streak of the season by a student-athlete for the Colonials, as Resnik also posted a 19-game stretch earlier this year. Junior
Catalina Saxen, meanwhile, came on to pinch hit for RMU in the fifth and singled up the middle while also singling with two outs in the seventh.
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