CLERMONT, FL – The hot hitting start for the RIT softball team (4-4) continued today as the Tigers swept two games at Hancock Park on Tuesday morning. RIT beat Lawrence (5-2) 9-3 in game one, and used a big five-run inning to top Kalamazoo College (2-9) by a score of 6-3.
RIT amassed 15 runs on 28 hits in the doubleheader, as the Tigers have averaged 6.6 runs per game during the eight games in Florida.
The RIT bats got going early in game one, scoring three runs in the opening frame. After a pair of hits by
McKenzie Martin (Deposit, NY/Deposit) and
Tori Blaker (Corning, NY/Corning-Painted Post West),
Amanda Cook (Royal Palm Beach, FL/Suncoast) ripped a double into deep center field, scoring the two runners. The next batter,
Sarah Thayer (Tully, NY/Fabius-Pompey), brought Cook home with a single up the middle. Martin's RBI double in the second inning pushed the Tiger lead to 4-0.
In the top of the third inning, Lawrence struck back. With a runner at second base, Anna Wawiorka hit a deep fly to center field. Cook, tracking the ball down, jumped and appeared to have robbed Wawiorka of a homer, but Cook flipped over the short fence and the ball fell out for her glove for the two-run shot. Lawrence then scored on a sacrifice fly, reducing the Tiger lead to 4-3.
The Tigers then put up a big inning, tacking on four runs to put the game away in the bottom of the fifth.
Danielle Hotz (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby), the reigning Liberty League Softball Rookie of the Week, doubled to center field, scoring Blaker to begin the rally. A couple batters later, Thayer singled through the left side, scoring Hotz from second. Thayer later scored on a passed ball, and
Alexandria Lunderman (Manlius, NY/Fayetteville-Manlius) doubled to deep left field, scoring
Emily Lazarus (Whitehall, PA/Allentown Catholic) to push the lead to five, at 8-3. The Tigers later tacked on a run in the bottom of the sixth on a Cook RBI single, her third of the contest on a perfect 4-for-4 day at the plate.
Lauren Mahar (Rotterdam, NY/Schalmont) was solid on the mound in relief, shutting out Lawrence through four innings of work, racking up five strikeouts and allowing only four hits.
Sierra Valentine (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena), the starter, struck out six batters through three innings. At the plate, Thayer and Martin tallied three hits each, and
Emily Shoemaker (Rochester, NY/Greece Athena) stole two bases.
In game two, Kalamazoo struck first, scoring in the opening inning. The Hornets were able to stymie the Tigers bats through the first three innings, but Mahar, the starter in game two, continued her strong work from game one. She pitched four innings, allowing just the one run on six hits, striking out six batters to keep the Tigers in the contest.
The Tiger offense couldn't be held down any longer, erupting for five runs in the top of the fourth. After
Alexa Farner (Gowanda, NY/Gownanda) and
Sam Killian (Webster, NY/Webster Schroeder) reached base,
Emma Sarles (Orchard Park, NY/Orchard Park) ripped a double up the middle, scoring Farner and Killian to take the lead. Showmaker scored Sarles on the groundout to increase the lead to 3-1, then Thayer singled through the left side three batters later, scoring Martin and Blaker, pushing the lead to 5-1 as the Tigers batted around.
Kalamazoo later tagged two runs, one in the bottom of the fifth, and another in the bottom of the seventh on a home run by Angelina Evangelista, trying to mount a comeback. But Valentine, this time replacing Mahar in relief, forced Briana Huisken to pop out to end the game.
Sarles had a big impact at the plate in game two, going 4-for-4 with three runs batted in and two stolen bases. Thayer added two RBIs, going 2-for-4.
The Tigers will finish up their Florida Spring Break trip with an afternoon doubleheader against Millikin and Thomas College on Wednesday, starting at 1 p.m.
