Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

CLERMONT, Fla. – Junior Kristina Weltzin allowed just one run in 7.0 innings to lead the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team to a 6-1 victory over Manhattanville College, this morning at the National Training Center. The Engineers then defeated Anna Maria College, 15-2, in five innings, to improve to 3-1 on the season.

Weltzin (Commerce Town, MI/Walled Lake Northern) surrendered a third inning run to the Valiants, as sophomore Alyx Scapperotti (Harrison, NY/Harrison) bunted a ball between first and second base that neither infielder made a play on. Senior Shauna Mulkerin (Branchburg, NY/immaculata) scored all the way from second base, after leading off the frame with a single up the middle.

The Engineers were held off the scoreboard until the fifth inning, when they struck for five runs on just three hits. A stolen base from sophomore Danielle Balestrini (Lake Placid, NY/Lake Placid) forced an errant throw from the Manhattanville catcher, allowing junior Jena Servidone (East Greenbush, NY/Columbia) to score from third.

Freshman Morgan Kollmeier (Kennett, PA/Kennett) the delivered an opposite field double to the gap in left, plating Balestrini. Later in the frame, Taylor Ten Eyck (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) hit a sacrifice fly to left, before her sister Morgan (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) drilled a home run over the fence in left, to make it 5-1.

Rensselaer added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI-base hit off the bat of Balestrini.

Servidone finished the game 2 for 2 with a run scored, while Morgan Ten Eyck went 1 for 1 with a home run and a pair of sacrifice bunts. Scapperotti, Mulkerin and freshman Shelbee Damianos (Ojai, CA/Nordhoff) all went 2 for 3 to pace Manhattanville.

Weltzin (1-1) picked up her first win of the year, recording four strikeouts. Alyssa Taylor (Craik, SK/Craik) took the loss for the Valiants, allowing four runs (3 earned) on four hits in 4.1 innings. She struck out one and walked two.

In game two on the day, Taylor Ten Eyck drove home junior Jocilyn Rudisill (Galloway, NJ/Absegami) with a double in the top of the first. The Amcats answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, as sophomore Samantha Miller (Dudley, MA/Sheperd Hill) drove a double to the gap in left.

RPI regained its advantage (3-1) in the third, thanks run-scoring base-hits from Kollmeier and Morgan Ten Eyck. Anna Maria came back with one in the bottom of the inning, on an infield single by sophomore Elizabeth Haggerty (Charlton, MA/Sheperd Hill), which scored starting pitcher Nichole Lowe (Saugus, MA/Saugus).

The Engineers then exploded for seven runs in the top of the fourth, wrapping out eight hits in the process. The frame was highlighted by a bases-clearing double off the bat of Rudisill, who finished the game 4 for 4 with a double, four runs scored, four runs batted in and two stolen bases.

In the fifth, Rensselaer scored five more times, as freshman first baseman Courtney McArthur (Coventry, RI/St. Mary Academy) picked up her first collegiate hit – a two-run double right. Classmate Dana Stevens (Freehold, NJ/Colts Neck) also picked up her first hit with the Engineers, which drove in a run.

Sophomore Victoria Hepworth (Chester, MA/Holyoke) improved to 2-0 on the young season, allowing two runs on four hits in 3.0 innings. She struck out four and walked one. Lowe (0-1) gave up 10 runs in 15 hits in 4.0 innings. She had one strikeout and one walk.

The Engineers are back on the diamond tomorrow morning, when they face Salve Regina (9am) and Richard Stockton (1pm).