MOON TOWNSHIP– The Robert Morris Colonials softball team (13-32, 4-4 NEC) comes back to their home field to take on the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds (26-14, 7-1 NEC) on Saturday, April 27th at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The Colonials last took on the Akron Zips, and the Zips took both games against the Colonials. The last game for the Blackbirds was against the Saint Peter’s Peacocks, which LIU Brooklyn won by a score of 7-0.

Recapping RMU

The Colonials headed back to Ohio to see if they could beat the Zips after struggling against the Kent State Golden Flashes. In the first game, they got ahead in the bottom of the first inning as they scored three runs. Then, both teams scored a run in the second inning. The Zips scored their fifth and final run in the bottom of the fourth inning, but the Colonials closed the gap in the score when they scored one run in the sixth and one run in the seventh. The Colonials committed two errors and left nine runners on base.

In the second game, the Zips overpowered the Colonials as they scored their first two runs in the second inning. In the third inning, they scored nine unanswered runs. The fourth inning saw the Zips scoring their last run to end the game via the run rule with a final score of 12-3.

The star players for the Colonials in the first game were Laura Coulter and Natalie Higgins. Coulter pitched 4.2 innings and had one earned run. On the offensive side of the field, Higgins had two hits and one RBI. The star players for the Zips in the first game were Adrian Smith and Laura Lakins. Smith pitched all seven innings and only allowed three earned runs with five strikeouts. Lakins helped her offense by getting one hit and two RBIs.

The star players for the Colonials in the second game were Taylor Bartlow and Taryn Miller. Both Bartlow and Miller had one hit, but Bartlow had two RBIs, while Miller only had one RBI. The star players for the Zips in the second game were Macky Mitchiner and Mikayla Newland. Mitchiner got her offense going as she got two hits with three RBIs. Newland kept the RMU offense to a minimum, only allowing three earned runs to score, and she struck out six batters.

Recapping LIU

In their last NEC matchup, the Blackbirds took on the Wagner Seahawks. In the first game, the Blackbirds got off to a good start as they scored three runs in the first inning, and they added another run in the second inning. The Blackbirds never let their foot off the gas pedal, as they scored another three runs in the fourth inning, and their last two runs to end the game came in the fifth inning. The Seahawks were only able to score one run in the game, and it came in the top of the fifth inning.

In the second game, the tables started to turn when the Seahawks pulled ahead of the Blackbirds, scoring two runs in the first inning and two runs in the second inning. The Blackbirds answered back with one run in the second and 11 unanswered runs in the third inning. The Blackbirds won this game.

The stars of the first game for the Blackbirds were Kiana Cisnero and Elena Valenzuela. Cisnero was one of the main sparks for this offense as she got one hit and three RBIs. Valenzuela kept the Seahawk batters guessing as she only allowed one run to score, and had struck out three batters. The star player for the Seahawks in the first game were Natalie Del Pointe and Karen Prihoda. Both Del Pointe and Prihoda were the only glimmers of offense for the Seahawks, as Del Pointe had one hit and one RBI. Prihoda had one hit and scored. The star players in the second game for the Blackbirds were Samantha Garcia and Alina Castillo. Both Garcia and Castillo had three hits and three RBIs to help the team get the run-rule win. The star players for the Seahawks in the second game were Amelia Van Orman and Kaila Smith. Both Orman and Smith got two hits and one RBI, then Orman also scored off of another hit.

Players to watch

Abrielle McCartney (RMU): As a senior, McCartney is very disciplined and consistent on the field. She leads the team in batting average with a .314 and she has a slugging percentage of .467. She has only been struck out 11 times this season and has 17 RBIs.

Dana Vatakis (RMU): Even as a freshman, Vatakis is the most consistent arm in the circle for the Colonials. She leads the team with the lowest earned run average with a 4.25 and has the most innings pitched with 115.1.

Elena Valenzuela (LIU Brooklyn): She leads the pitching staff in innings pitched with 121 and had the lowest earned run average of 1.91. She had 55 strikeouts and had only allowed three home runs to be hit off of her.

Alina Castillo (LIU Brooklyn): Leads the team in batting average with a .339 and a slugging percentage of .455. She had an on-base percentage of .420 and had only been struck out 14 times this season. This season in her sophomore campaign, she had moved up in terms of stats and is a big contributor to this team.

Prediction

I think the Colonials will be overtaken by the Blackbirds and both games will end in the run-rule. The Colonials next game is against the Mount St. Mary’s Lady Mountaineers (22-25, 7-1 NEC) on Sunday, April 28th at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.