ONEONTA, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team swept a non-league doubleheader at Oneonta on Thursday afternoon at Red Dragon Stadium, earning a 3-1 win in the opener before holding off a late push for a 5-4 victory in a weather-shortened game two.
RPI struck first in the top of the third and
Callie Volker made it stand, working around traffic all afternoon to earn the complete-game win.
Gaby Heim jump-started the scoring with a one-out double to left-center, and after moving to third, she came home when
Evann McDowell grounded out to short for an RBI to make it 1-0.
The Engineers added a run in the fourth.
Addison Shaffer ripped a double down the left-field line, and when
Maddy Brooks reached on an error, the miscue allowed Shaffer to score and push the lead to 2-0.
Oneonta broke through in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with a pair of singles and a walk before a bases-loaded walk brought home a run to cut the deficit to 2-1. Volker kept the damage limited, then worked out of another jam in the sixth as the Red Dragons put two aboard.
RPI answered with an insurance run in the sixth. McDowell drew a walk and moved into scoring position, and after a pair of errors on a bunt attempt brought McDowell around to score, the Engineers carried a 3-1 lead into the final frame.
McDowell provided the lone RBI with a double, a walk, and a run scored, while Shaffer and Heim each doubled and scored. Brooks added a single, and
Sarah Decker swiped a base. Volker went the distance, allowing one run on 10 hits with six strikeouts.
RPI manufactured runs early and built a 5-1 lead, then held off a three-run fifth from Oneonta to complete the sweep behind
Ava Markert.
The Engineers opened the scoring in the second.
Olivia Termi singled to start the inning, and after
Maddy Brooks reached on a fielder's choice and stole second,
Gaby Heim lined an RBI single through the left side to plate Brooks for a 1-0 advantage.
Oneonta answered in the bottom of the second with a run-scoring double to tie it, but RPI responded with two in the third, both created by pressure on the bases. McDowell reached to start the inning and advanced, and
Callista Adorno dropped down a bunt single. A wild pitch brought McDowell home, and moments later
Addison Shaffer executed a bunt that resulted in an RBI fielder's choice to score Adorno for a 3-1 lead.
RPI tacked on another in the fourth when
Lauren Cosselman doubled and later scored on Speanburg's RBI groundout, and the Engineers added what proved to be the difference-maker in the fifth as Termi doubled to center to drive in Adorno and make it 5-1.
Oneonta made it interesting in the bottom of the fifth, using a triple and two RBI groundouts, plus an error, to score three runs and cut the margin to 5-4, but Markert induced a string of ground-ball outs to close out the win after an official five innings.
Termi led the RPI offense with a 2-for-3 performance that included a double and an RBI, while Heim went 1-for-1 with an RBI single and a stolen base. Cosselman doubled and scored, Adorno reached base three times (single and two hit-by-pitches) and scored twice, and Brooks scored and stole a base.
RPI will take the weekend off before returning to the field on Monday afternoon in the resumption of Thursday, March 19th's contest against Russell Sage that was suspended due to darkness.
