ROCHESTER, N.Y. – The RIT softball team opened the 2021 season with a doubleheader split with visiting Oswego, Monday. The Tigers scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth to earn a 9-8 comeback win in the opener before falling, 4-3, in game two.
Junior first baseman
Brianna Bilich (Penryn, CA/Del Oro) went 3-for-4 with two doubles, three RBI and two runs scored while senior shortstop
Raquel Estrada (Middletown, NY/Middletown) finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and scored two runs in the opening victory.
Sophomore right fielder
Natalie Barrera (Worcester, MA/Doherty Memorial) went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored to lead the offense in game two.
GAME 1 – RIT 9, OSWEGO 8
- Oswego plated three in the first and two in the second to take a quick 5-0 lead. RIT got one back in the bottom of the second on back-to-back doubles by Estrada and Bilich.
- The Lakers took a 6-1 lead with an unearned run in the top of the fourth, but the Tigers answered with a run in the bottom half of the inning after Estrada led off with a double and came home on a two-out single by junior third baseman Jennifer Vickery (Gloversville, NY/Gloversville).
- RIT pulled within a run, 6-5, with three in the fifth. Senior second baseman Julia Vaillancourt (Braintree, MA/Braintree) and Estrada logged a pair of singles to right before Bilich brought them both home with a double to the left-center gap. Sophomore catcher Alexis Smith (Ronkonkoma, NY/Connetquot) followed with a double down the left field line to plate Bilich.
- Oswego brought a run across with two outs in the sixth and made it an 8-5 game with an unearned run in the seventh.
- Vaillancourt started the RIT seventh with a lead-off walk and advanced to second after junior centerfielder Hannah Trumble (Pittsford, NY/Pittsford Mendon) reached on a dropped throw to first on a sacrifice bunt attempt. Bilich loaded the based with a single to shallow center before Smith brought Vaillancourt home with a long fly out to centerfield. Freshman third baseman Brooke Seifert (Cheektowaga, NY/Cleveland Hill) re-loaded the bases with a two-out walk before back-to-back RBI singles by Barrera and freshman designated player Elise Guth (Red Lion, PA/Red Lion) tied the score, 8-8. Seifert scored the winning run on a wild pitch to complete the comeback.
- Senior Melissa Gould (Harleysville, PA/Souderton Area) earned the relief victory in the circle, only allowing one earned run and two hits over the final three innings of work.
GAME 2 – OSWEGO 4, RIT 3
- Oswego scored a run in the first and two more in the second for an early, 3-0 lead.
- RIT got on the board with a run in the fourth. Bilich led off with a single to left field and, following a walk to Estrada, advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Trumble. Barrera plated Bilich with an RBI hit to left.
- Oswego took a 4-1 lead with an unearned run in the fifth before RIT made it a one-run game with pair of runs in the sixth. Estrada led off with a single to right before Barrera knocked a one-out single up the middle. Junior catcher Jill Vorreiter (Fisherville, KY/Mercy Academy of Louisville) brought Estrada home with a double to left field before Seifert plated Barrera with long fly out to center field.
- RIT nearly completed its second comeback of the day after loading the bases with one out in seventh, but the Lakers held the Tigers to a pair of groundouts to preserve the split.
- Senior pitcher Torie Adler (West Chester, PA/B. Reed Henderson) went the distance in the circle, allowing three hits and one earned run while striking out six.
WHAT'S NEXT
RIT hosts Alfred for a doubleheader on Thursday (March 25), slated to begin at 3:00 p.m.