Last Wednesday the Red Hawks took to the Doris Robinson Field in their first doubleheader of the week. Game one was a close-fought battle to the finish, with RPI prevailing 8-7. After a double by junior Julianne Bass, Rensselaer held a 3-1 lead. Bass went five-for-eight in the game, including three runs batted in. Hamilton quickly took back the lead after scoring four runs in the second inning, bringing the score to 5-3. Junior pitcher Michelle Street was taken out of the game, and replaced by freshman Felicia Bua. After three innings of play, the Continentals added two more runs, and held a commanding three-run lead over RPI, who was able to add another tally to its score in the third. In the bottom of the fourth, Bass belted a two-run home run, and freshman Jen Bach added an RBI single to knot the game up at seven. Senior Beth Gargon had a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth to bring in classmate Logan Russell for the winning run. Bua was credited with the win, and improved to 2-0 on the season, allowing only two runs on four hits, and three strikeouts after 5.1 innings of play. Hamilton junior Megan Coughlin allowed six runs on 10 hits in six innings in the loss.

In game two of the afternoon, Hamilton opened up scoring at the top of the third after junior Amber O’Connor hit a single RBI, bringing home classmate Robin Brown. The Red Hawks quickly bounced back when freshman Genevieve Falco hit a three-run double, pulling RPI up 4-1 after three innings. Hamilton added two runs in the fourth and fifth innings, which would be its last counts of the day. RPI added two more runs in the final two innings, to win the game with a score of 7-3. Falco went two-for-three in the game, with four runs batted in. Sophomore pitcher Michelle Bianchetti was credited with the win, and is now 3-1 on the season. Bianchetti allowed three runs on six hits in five innings of play. Coughlin allowed four runs on seven hits in her second loss of the day, and Hamilton reliever Erin Hoener allowed three runs on three hits in the final two innings.

Thursday afternoon, the Red Hawks travelled to Newburgh, N.Y. to take on Mount Saint Mary’s. In the top of the second, Russell singled to right field to bring in Gargon to put RPI ahead 1-0. The Red Hawks added two more runs in both the third and fourth innings to pull their lead to 5-0, before the Blue Knights responded in the bottom of the fourth with three runs on four hits. Mount Saint Mary’s added three more runs in the fifth to pull ahead 6-5. The Red Hawks bounced back with a scoring frenzy, adding eight runs in the sixth inning to clench the win. Russell went three-for-four in the game, including two runs and two runs batted in. Gargon went a perfect four-for-four, and also added two runs and two RBI’s. Bianchetti started the game, allowing five runs on six hits in 4.1 innings, while reliever Bua was credited with the win, allowing only one run in 2.2 innings.

Rensselaer took the lead quickly in game two, going up 1-0 after sophomore Becky Bailey scored on a Bach RBI. Senior Courtney Sweeney tripled to right center to bring in two more runs, and came home herself after Russell singled to left field during the fourth inning. RPI would add two more runs in the fifth inning, and five more in the sixth, for a total of 11 runs in the game. The Blue Knights would score one run in the fifth and another in the sixth; but it wasn’t enough to combat the Red Hawk’s offensive prowess. Freshman pitcher Jen Bach was credited with a win, and allowed only one run on three hits, as well as striking out three. She also went three-for-four in the game, with one run scored and four runs batted in, including two doubles. Erin Dammermuth of Mount Saint Mary’s allowed 11 runs on 12 hits, as well as two walks and one strikeout.

Poor weather caused Saturday afternoon’s softball matchup between Rensselaer and Nazareth College to be moved to Sunday afternoon, played at the University of Albany instead of Doris Robinson Field.

Opening up the bottom half of the second inning of game one, Gargon put RPI on the board with a solo homerun. Both Falco and freshman Alysa Rochminski were walked by sophomore Nazareth pitcher Lisa Nazarenko, her first two of five walks on the day. An RBI single by Sara Finkbeiner, plus an error and a wild pitch allowed the Red Hawks to pull ahead 4-0 by the end of the inning. The Golden Flyers would score their only run of the day after Nazarenko doubled and came in on an error during the top of the fourth. Finishing out the game, Nazarenko allowed four runs on three hits, and struck out five in the loss, while Bianchetti allowed no earned runs in seven innings and four hits. She walked one and struck out five in the win, her second of the week.

Red Hawk pitcher Bua continued her unbeaten streak, adding her fourth win of the year in game two against Nazareth. Bua allowed only two hits in seven innings, in addition to striking out four. At no point in the game did a Golden Flyer make it past second base. In the relatively low-scoring game, Bach had a two-run single in the bottom of the fifth to bring in pinch runner senior Logan Russell and Rochminski. Sweeney added another RBI single in the sixth to bring the Red Hawk’s lead to 3-0. Sweeney and Bach both went 2 for 3 in the game. Nazareth junior Christa Harris was credited with the loss.

Results for Tuesday’s double header against Middlebury College were not available at time of publication.