TUCSON, Ariz. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team split a doubleheader with the Bethany Lutheran College Vikings, clinching their first win of the season on Wednesday with a 10-0 five inning victory in Game 2 after falling 7-0 in Game 1. The Engineers move to a 1-3 record overall so far this season.
Game 1
The Vikings came out swinging, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. Kaija Mork knocked an RBI double before scoring on a wild pitch to make it 2-0 Vikings. In addition, Kayla Senne pitched seven shutout innings for the Vikings, walking five and striking out nine.
Bethany Lutheran added three more runs in the third inning, as Mork once again put the ball in play. An RPI error allowed a pair of runs to score before a sacrifice fly scored Mork to make it 5-0 Vikings.
Haley Stickman ripped an RBI double in the fifth inning to make it 7-0 Vikings, as that was the way it stayed through the final out.
Callista Adorno collected two of RPI's four hits on the afternoon, with
Erin Askins and Gabby Comaeu hitting the other two.
Alexis Cooke and
Brooke Sroczinski scattered four hits apiece in the circle in the loss.
Game 2
The Engineers flipped the script in the second game of the day, collecting nine of their 10 runs through the first two innings in the win. In addition to the hit parade, Krika Holowka pitched five shutout innings in clinching RPI's second win of the season.
Adorno and
Alex Ledger knocked back-to-back RBI singles in the opening inning before
Sydney Speanburg walked in a run as all three collected RBI's to make it 3-0 before a wild pitch made it 4-0 RPI by the end of the first inning.
The offense continued in the second inning, as
Gabby Comeau went back-to-back with Adorno with a single-double combination to pump the RPI lead to 6-0.
Liv Vizzini kept the inning going with an RBI single, followed by an RBI double from
Catherine Worthington to make it 8-0 Engineers. Before the inning was said and done, another run had crossed for a 9-0 RPI lead after the opening two frames.
Vizzini collected her second RBI single of the day in the fourth inning to push the score to 10-0 RPI, and after Holowka shut the door on the Vikings in the top of the fifth, the game came to a finish to seal the win for the Engineers.
Adorno and Vizzini each finished the game with three hits and two RBI apiece, while Speanburg also contributed a pair of RBI. Jade Krenik was the only Viking with two hits on the afternoon.
RPI returns to action on Friday, March 10 starting at 3:30 p.m. as they take on Central College and Indiana Wesleyan University in Tuscon.
