TUCSON, AZ – The RIT softball team (0-2) opened the 2018 season with a pair of losses, falling to Iowa schools Cornell College (4-4), 16-2 and Central College (10-4), 11-2 at the Tucson Invitational on Saturday.
 
In the opener against Cornell, the Rams jumped out to an 8-0 lead before RIT fought back with two runs in the fourth inning. Cornell put the game away with eight runs in the fifth inning.
 
Danielle Hotz (Drexel Hill, PA/Upper Darby) provided the RIT offense with a two-run single in the fourth inning that plated Olivia Doret (Fairfax, VA/Chantilly) and Sarah Thayer (Tully, NY/Fabius-Pompey). Hotz was 2-for-3, while Doret went 2-for-2 and Thayer walked twice. Samm Carroll (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge) picked up her first collegiate hit.
 
Stephanie Xavier was 3-for-4 with three runs scored and four RBIs to lead Cornell. Stephanie Yost went 4-for-4 with three runs scored, as the Rams exploded for 18 hits.
 
In game two against Central, the Tigers once again fell behind early before trying to rally. In the fifth inning, Julia Vaillancourt (Briantree, MA/Braintree) picked up her first hit, a single, and Erin Guinan (Geneva, NY/Geneva) reached on an error. After Carroll moved both runners up, Doret singled to drive in Vaillancourt and Guinan to get RIT on the board.
 
In the sixth inning, Central scored twice to end the game, as Tabitha Taylor hit a two-run home run. Daria Parchert homered earlier in the game, while Shaye Witte scored three runs.
 
RIT is right back in action on Sunday, with games against College of Staten Island at 11 a.m. EST and Augsburg University at 3:30 p.m. EST.