MOON TOWNSHIP– After the Colonials experienced rain in the area and had several games washed out due to the weather, Robert Morris Colonials softball had the skies clear long enough for a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Colonials (19-13, 10-3 Horizon) welcomed IUPUI (9-26, 7-7) to Moon Township in a Horizon League matchup.

Dana Vatakis took the mound for the first game. Just as she has been all year, she dominated in this start as well, tossing six innings, allowing one run on three hits, and striking out eight batters in the process.

After the game, Vatakis noted her mindset on the mound and confidence in the back-end of the bullpen.

“I just wanted to take it one pitch at a time and get batters out,” she said. “I always have full confidence when Taylor [Rhinehart] comes into the game to finish it off.”

Rhinehart recorded her fourth save of the season as the Colonials took game one 3-1.

Head coach Jexx Varner was appreciative of the team effort in the game.

“We did what we had to do in the first game,” he said. “We got going offensively and we shut the door when we had to”.

Moving on to game two, IUPUI came out firing in the first inning. Rachel Gregory would get the offense started for IUPUI as she singled into left field to get the Jaguars on the board early.

Isabelle Waggner was on the mound for the Jaguars and she was unhittable in the first five innings. She had a drop ball that was baffling the Colonial hitters and she was cruising through the middle innings.

“We were too patient in the second game,” Varner said. “However, as we picked up on how she was throwing her pitches, our offense figured it out in the late innings.”

Meadow Sacadura brought some late life to the Colonials, smashing her first home run of the year to right field to get the Colonials on the board. However, they were still down by two heading into the final frame.

Rachael Rhinehart continued her solid season on the mound, holding IUPUI scoreless in the top of the seventh inning.

The gates were busted wide open in the seventh, as the Colonials strung together a couple of hits to get the bases loaded. Alaina Koutsogiani knocked a base hit down the left-field line to drive in two runs and tie the game with no outs.

Taylor Rhinehart entered the game as a pinch hitter. She struck out two times in game one but looked to be the hero in game two. Rhinehart hit a line drive to the shortstop and the umpire determined that it bounced into the glove and Alaina York scored to give the Colonials a 4-3 victory.

Rachael Rhinehart had a great start as well for the Colonials, going all seven innings, allowing three runs, two of them being earned and striking out seven batters.

The Rhinehart sisters were at the forefront all day, and Taylor played the role of hero in both games. Rhinehart also pointed at the team’s effort throughout the doubleheader.

“It was a total team effort out there today,” she said. “We battled back in the second game and won.”

The Colonials move to 21-13 on the season and move to 12-3 in conference play. They will look to sweep the Jaguars tomorrow as they will play in the rubber match of the series.