LEESBURG, Fla. – Senior
Erika Holowka earned the win in relief and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team rallied for a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over Illinois College on Sunday afternoon at Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. With the win, the Engineers improve to 3-2 on the season, while the Lady Blues drop to 1-2.
Illinois built a 3-0 lead over the first five innings of the contest, beginning with a single run in the top of the second thanks to an RPI error.
The Lady Blues then scratched two more across in the third and fifth, highlighted by a sacrifice fly from Cheyenne Anderson and another Engineers miscue.
In the bottom of the sixth,
Erin Askins walked with one out, but was erased on a fielder's choice off the bat of
Gabby Comeau. A
Catherine Worthington single up the middle was followed by a two-run single by Chole Lewandowski, which pulled the Engineers to within 3-2.
After Holowka shut down the Lady Blues in the top of the seventh,
Ryleigh Greenwald led off the bottom half with a double to the gap in left center.
Jessica Torch then reached on a bunt single. With one out, Comeau singled home the tying run, before Worthington ripped a ball to short that was misplayed, allowing
Charli Smith score the winning tally.
Holowka (1-1) allowed just one unearned run over 4.0 innings of relief, with three strikeouts. Starter
Alexis Cooke gave up two runs (1 earned) on one hit over 3.0 innings.
The Engineers are back in action on Tuesday, when they take on Nebraska Wesleyan (12:15pm) and Messiah (3:15pm) in Clermont. Illinois faces Marian College (12pm) and Hiram (4:30pm) on Monday.