TROY, N.Y. – Junior
Brooke Sroczinski threw 7.2 innings of relief to help the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team to a doubleheader split with Skidmore College, on Friday at Doris Robison Field. The Engineers, who fell, 8-6 in Game 1, before winning Game 2, 9-5, move to 16-14 overall (3-3 Liberty League), while the Thoroughbreds are now 18-8 (1-3 Liberty League).
The Thoroughbreds outlasted RPI in the opener, 8-6 in 11 innings, taking four different leads in the contest.
After Rensselaer got on the board first in the bottom of the second, Skidmore answered with a three-run top of the third to open up a 3-1 advantage. Kaitlyn Judd got the scoring started for the visitors with a two-run triple into the right field corner. Katie Anderson then singled back through the box to plate Judd.
The Engineers scored single runs in the sixth and seventh to force extra innings. First,
Liv Vizzini drove home
Catherine Worthington with a groundout to second, before
Erin Askins lifted a game-tying sacrifice fly to center, knotting the score at 3-3.
Following a scoreless eighth, the Thoroughbreds scored twice in the ninth. Judd ripped an opposite field single to plate the first run, while Chloe McGonagle made 5-3 with a sac fly.
RPI answered the bottom half, picking up an RBI-double from
Ryleigh Greenwald and a run-scoring bunt hit by
Jessica Torch.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect in the 10th, the Thoroughbreds pushed the placed runner to third with a bunt, before Dana Ragen singled home the go-ahead run. Sroczinski led off the bottom half with a triple that scored pinch-runner
Melissa Orlick from second, once again tying the game (6-6).
The Thoroughbreds put together a rally in the 11th to score its seventh and eighth runs of the contest. An RPI miscue in the field allowed the first one to come across, before Anderson made it 8-6 with an RBI-groundout to short.
Skidmore righthander Lindsey Raimondi was able to keep the Engineers off the board in the bottom of the 11th to secure the victory and earn her first save of the season.
Starter Hannah Davis (9-3) threw the first 10.0 innings for Skidmore, allowing six runs (3 earned) on nine hits. She struck out six and walked four, while throwing 159 pitches.
In the nightcap, the Engineers used a five-run fifth inning to earn the doubleheader split.
RPI scored two in the first and one in the second to open up a 3-0 lead.
Alex Ledger singled Askins to cap a two-run opening frame, before Worthington launched her team-leading third home run of the season over the fence in left.
Skidmore battled back in the top of the third, scoring four times to take a 4-3 lead. Melissa Mathias doubled home a pair to the visitors on the board, before Anderson came home on a failed pick-off attempt at third to tie the game. Davis then put the Thoroughbreds ahead with single to right.
A double-steal in the bottom of the third, tied the game for the Engineers, as Vizzini came across the plate.
The Thoroughbreds then briefly took back the lead at 5-4 in the top of the fifth, on a ground out from McGonagle.
RPI busted the game open in the bottom half of the inning, scoring five times on just two hits. After drawing back-to-back walks to open the frame,
Chloe Lewandowski dropped down a perfect bunt that saw her reach first base without a throw.
Caroline Peel and
Mikayla O'Neill followed by drawing bases-loaded walks to score two runs. Torch then doubled to left to score a pair and Worthington capped the rally with an RBI-groundout, giving RPI a 9-5 lead.
Sroczinski (4-2) closed out the contest by throwing a scoreless sixth and seventh. She allowed one run on one hit over 5.0 innings, striking out six and walking one.
The Engineers are back on the diamond tomorrow afternoon, when they visit Clarkson for a twin bill (1pm). Skidmore also heads north, facing St. Lawrence tomorrow for two (1pm).
