FORT MEYERS, Fla. – The RIT softball split a pair of games at the Gene Cusic Collegiate Classic, Wednesday, at North Collier Regional Park. The fell to Coast Guard, 10-1, before bouncing back with a 5-4 walk-off win over Canton.

COAST GUARD 10, RIT 1 (5 Inn.)
RIT junior shortstop Julia Vaillancourt (Braintree, MA/Braintree) went 1 for 2 with a double and a run scored, but a six-run third inning propelled Coast Guard over the Tigers in five innings.

RIT 5, CANTON 4
RIT left fielder Haley Czerwinski (East Amherst, NY/Clarence) went 3 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI while Alexis Smith (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetquot) knocked a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh inning to clinch the win over Canton.

• Sophomore center fielder Samm Carroll (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge) led off the game with a single to right field and eventually came around on an RBI single by Czerwinski.
• In the third inning, sophomore right fielder Sarina Alexander (Jamesville, NY/Jamesville-DeWitt) plated Czerwinski with a one-out double to right center before sophomore first baseman Brianna Bilich (Penryn, CA/Del Oro) later brought home Alexander with a single to left.
• Canton scored twice in the fifth inning to make it a one-run game, but RIT plated one in the bottom half of the inning when senior shortstop Erin Guinan (Geneva, NY/Geneva) beat a throw home from third on a ball hit by sophomore third baseman Jennifer Vickery (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville).
• Canton rallied for two runs in the top of the sixth inning.
• In the bottom half of the seventh, Bilich reached on a two-out single to left before advancing to second on a wild pitch. Smith brought home Bilich for the winning run on a double to right center to seal the win.

WHAT'S NEXT

RIT (5-1) closes its spring break trip on Friday opposite Oneonta and Curry at the Century Link Sports Complex. Game times are slated for 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 a.m., respectively.