Box Score FT. MYERS, Fla. – Sophomore pitcher Michelle Street (East Syracuse, NY/East Syracuse-Minoa) picked up her fourth victory of the season and freshman Becky Bailey (Rome, NY/Holland Patent) went 3 for 7 at the plate to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team to a split against Elizabethtown and Loras. The Red Hawks are now 9-3.

Rensselaer fell 6-5 to Elizabethtown in the opening game, which saw the Bluejays take a 3-1 lead in the first inning. With three more runs in the top of the sixth, Elizabethtown held a 6-1 advantage, but the Red Hawks battled back to score four runs in the bottom half of the inning to pull within a run. Sophomore Julianne Bass (Costa Mesa, CA/Newport Harbor), junior catcher Beth Gargon (East Hampton, CT/East Hampton), and freshman third baseman Kate Stira (Durham, CT/Coginchaug) all had hits in the inning, but RPI could not overcome the deficit.

Freshman Michelle Bianchetti (Highland Mills, NY/John S. Burke Catholic) pitched all seven innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits with two strikeouts and no walks.

Elizabethtown:      3 0 0 0 0 3 0 - 6-8-2
Rensselaer (8-3): 1 0 0 0 0 4 0 - 5-9-2

EC: Alex Lee (Win) and Abbie Merrifield. RPI: Bianchetti (Loss) and Gargon.

In its second contest, a 12-3 win, the Red Hawks broke open a close game with a five-run effort in the fourth inning.  RPI got hits from junior second baseman Logan Russell (Cranbury, NJ/Princeton) and Stira and capitalized on several errors by the DuHawks to take a 9-2 lead after four.  The Red Hawks added three more runs in the final inning, led by Bailey, who went 3 for 4 with three RBI’s in the game. Stira added two hits, including a double, while Bass was 1 for 3 with three runs scored.

Street allowed just three runs on two hits with four strikeouts for the victory.

Rensselaer (9-3): 1 1 2 5 3 - 12-13-1
Loras:                 2 0 0 0 1 - 3-2-2

LOR: Kate Earleywine (Loss) and Sarah Medieros. RPI: Street (Win) and Bass.