TROY, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team earned a Liberty League sweep against RIT today at Robison Field, erupting for a 15-1 win in five innings in the opener before holding on for a 7-5 victory in game two.

RPI wasted no time, scoring in every inning and piling up 15 hits while taking advantage of eight RIT errors to cruise to a run-rule win to begin the afternoon. 

The Engineers struck for four in the first, using pressure on the bases and a pair of errors to get going before Addison Shaffer delivered the big swing—a two-run triple—to make it 3-0. Maddy Brooks followed by reaching on an error that brought home another run as RPI grabbed a 4-0 lead after one. 

RPI added three more in the second. Gaby Heim opened the frame with a double and eventually scored, and Olivia Termi added an RBI double as the Engineers pushed the advantage to 7-0. 

The third inning broke the game open. Maggie Kreis singled and later scored (with Jackie Cutting pinch running), and Speanburg's RBI single sparked a rally that included run-scoring groundouts from Termi and a pair of RBI singles from Sarah Decker and Brooks. Cutting capped the inning with a two-run double to right-center—plus an additional run coming home on the throw—to extend the lead to 14-0. 

RPI tacked on one more in the fourth when Jaylene Robles reached and later scored on Natalie Kopf's RBI single. 

McDowell set the table all afternoon, going 2-for-2 with three runs scored. Termi drove in three runs, while Shaffer finished with two RBI. Brooks went 2-for-3 with two RBI, and Cutting added a two-RBI double during the decisive third inning. 

After a relatively quiet start to game two, RPI used a three-run third to take control, then survived a late RIT rally in the seventh to complete the day sweep of the Tigers. 

After two scoreless innings, RPI opened the scoring in the bottom of the third. Ryleigh Falvey and Sydney Speanburg were both hit by pitches and advanced on a series of wild pitches, with Falvey and Speanburg each coming home as RPI grabbed a 2-0 edge. Moments later, Callista Adorno launched a solo homer to left-center to make it 3-0. 

RPI added two more in the fourth. Falvey walked and eventually scored on an error, and McDowell ripped an RBI double to right-center as the Engineers stretched the lead to 5-0. 

The Engineers manufactured two key insurance runs in the fifth. Addison Shaffer doubled, and after a hit and a steal put runners in scoring position, Falvey lined a two-run single to second to bring home Brooks and Cosselman and make it 7-0. 

RIT finally broke through in the sixth on an RBI groundout, then made it interesting with a four-run seventh that included a two-run double and a pair of run-scoring plays. RPI ultimately held on to secure the 7-5 win. 

Falvey delivered the biggest swing of the afternoon in game two, going 1-for-1 with a two-RBI single, a walk, and two runs scored. Speanburg scored twice, McDowell added an RBI double, and Shaffer went 2-for-3 with a double.

In the circle, Gaby Heim picked up the win after sandwiching 4.1 scoreless innings around Meghan Brown's 2.2 innings of relief. Heim struck out five in the victory.

The Engineers will flip around to host league-leading Rochester tomorrow at 1:00 pm.