Moon Township, Pa. – The RMU softball team wrapped up its 2023 regular season Saturday, taking both ends of a doubleheader from Cleveland State at Viking Field in Cleveland, Ohio, to complete a three-game series sweep. The Colonials earned a 4-1 win in the first game before posting their second shutout of the series, 5-0, in the nightcap. RMU improved to 24-21 (.533) overall during the 2023 season, securing its third consecutive winning season, while concluding Horizon League play at 14-8 (.636).
GAME 1 • W, 4-1
START ME UP
Grabbing an early lead in the first inning for the second consecutive game of the series, junior
Charlotte Grover singled to left to bring home sophomore
Anna Resnik to give the Colonials a 1-0 edge. The score remained that way until the bottom of the fourth. Junior starter
Jane Garver had retired six in a row until Sophie Spellman connected for a solo home run to left to tie it, 1-1, with one out. Garver shook off the dinger, getting Emma Gilkerson to fly out before striking out Jenna Watts looking to end the frame.
BACK ON TOP
RMU answered the home run by Spellman in the top of the fifth to jump back in front, taking advantage of a miscue by the Vikings to grab a 2-1 lead. Senior
Avery Winchell reached on an error by Jenna Deang with one out and advanced to second on a sacrifice from sophomore
Alaina Koutsogiani. Junior
Catalina Saxen got the call to pinch hit and delivered, ripping a single up the middle to score Winchell and push RMU on top for good. The Colonials added two more in the sixth to grab a 4-1 lead, with Grover providing an RBI single as part of a 3-for-5 effort in game one.
LOCK THE VAULT
Garver went five innings in game one Saturday, scattering four hits and issuing a free pass while striking out four. Sophomore
Madison DeVault came on in the sixth to close out the victory, striking out four in the final two innings while allowing a single and walking one. Garver improved to 7-3 on the year from the circle, while DeVault notched her second save.
GAME 2 • W, 5-0
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Arguably the hottest pitcher in the Horizon League entering the 2023 #HLSB Championships, fifth-year
Dana Vatakis got the call in game three of the series Saturday and once again was in complete control. She struck out five in posting her second consecutive shutout of the Vikings, recording the ninth complete game in her last 13 starts against Horizon League foes from the circle. In six of those starts she has held the opposition scoreless. Vatakis concludes the 2023 regular season with an overall mark of 10-10 in 28 appearances, including a team-high 22 starts, with a 2.13 earned run average (ERA).
FUN IN THE FIRST
For the third consecutive game in the series RMU scored in the first inning, grabbing a 3-0 lead and giving Vatakis all the breathing room she would need. The big hit of the frame came from sophomore
Logan Black, who delivered an RBI single to center that scored both Grover and Koutsogiani to give the Colonials a three-run cushion. Insurance runs came in both the fourth and the fifth innings, with Saxen providing an RBI groundout in the fourth and junior
Faith Miller an RBI single in the fifth.
WHERE WE STAND
RMU secured a bye in the 2023 #HLSB Tournament for the first time in program history thanks to its three-game sweep of Cleveland State (15-32 / 11-12 #HLSB) and in the process knocked the Vikings out of the league tourney. Oakland (18-19 / 14-7 #HLSB) claimed its second consecutive Horizon League regular-season crown and earned the No. 1 seed. Green Bay will host the championship as the highest seed that meets facility hosting criteria.
UP NEXT
RMU will open play in the
2023 Horizon League Championship Thursday, May 11, at 3:30 p.m. against the winner of No. 6 seed Youngstown State and No. 3 seed Northern Kentucky, which face off Wednesday, May 10, at 3:30 p.m. at King Park.
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