POTSDAM, N.Y. – The Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) softball team swept a non-league doubleheader at Clarkson on Saturday afternoon, earning an 11-2 win in the opener before rolling to an 11-2 victory in five innings.
RPI scored early and broke it open late in the day's first game, using a five-run seventh inning to pull away after building a 6-0 lead through four.
The Engineers struck for two in the first.
Evann McDowell singled and moved into scoring position, and after
Olivia Termi reached,
Addison Shaffer worked an RBI walk to bring home the game's first run. Moments later,
Maddy Brooks' RBI fielder's choice made it 2-0.
RPI added two more in the second as
Sarah Decker singled and
Gaby Heim doubled to set the table.
Sydney Speanburg lifted a sacrifice fly to score Decker, and McDowell followed with an RBI single to left to push the lead to 4-0.
The Engineers tacked on a pair of unearned runs in the fourth. Termi lined a single down the left-field line and advanced into scoring position, and an error helped bring home two runs as RPI stretched the advantage to 6-0.
RPI put the game away with a five-run seventh, highlighted by three consecutive doubles. Shaffer doubled and scored on
Ryleigh Falvey's RBI double, and
Lauren Cosselman followed with an RBI double of her own. Decker then delivered an RBI single, Speanburg added a sacrifice fly, and
Jackie Cutting capped the inning with an RBI single to make it 11-0.
Clarkson scored twice in the bottom of the seventh, but the outcome was never in doubt. Volker earned the win with 4.0 scoreless innings and three strikeouts,
Maggie Kreis added 2.0 clean frames, and Cutting finished the game.
At the plate, Decker led the way by going 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI, while Termi went 2-for-3 with a walk and a run scored. McDowell was 2-for-2 with an RBI before exiting, and Falvey and Cosselman each doubled and drove in a run in the seventh-inning surge.
In game two, RPI erupted for eight runs in the fourth inning and finished with 17 hits to complete the sweep in run-rule fashion.
After a scoreless first, the Engineers opened the scoring in the second on
Maddy Brooks' solo homer to left to make it 1-0.
RPI added two more in the third with a small-ball rally.
Sydney Speanburg and
Ryleigh Falvey bunted for singles, and after
Callista Adorno reached,
Olivia Termi singled up the middle for an RBI before
Lauren Cosselman added another run-scoring single to push the lead to 3-0.
Clarkson got on the board in the bottom of the third on an RBI single, but RPI answered emphatically in the fourth with an eight-run outburst. Speanburg, Falvey, and Adorno all singled to set the table, and Termi delivered the biggest swing of the inning—a grand slam to left. RPI kept the line moving with an RBI double from
Gaby Heim and a two-run single from Speanburg as the Engineers surged in front, 11-1.
Speanburg paced the offense with a 3-for-4 day in the finale, scoring twice and driving in two, while Falvey went 3-for-4 and scored. Adorno finished 3-for-4, and Termi drove in five, highlighted by the grand slam.
The Engineers will look ahead to next weekend's Liberty League Championship, which will take place Thursday through Saturday at host Rochester.
