The Rensselaer softball team shouldered a difficult week of play against tough opponents, ultimately finishing with a 2-3 record. After splitting a doubleheader on the road against Middlebury College, the Red Hawks came back with a blow-out of the Elms College Blazers, but were put back into their place by the No. 25 in the nation University of Rochester Yellowjackets in the doubleheader sweep at Doris Robison Field. RPI heads into the tail end of the regular season with a 21-8 overall record and 2-2 in the Liberty League. At the same time, Middlebury finished the week 14-14, as Elms fell to 15-12 and the Yellowjackets improved to 31-10, staying a perfect 8-0 in the conference.
After falling 1-0 to the Middlebury Panthers in seven innings of play on Wednesday, the Red Hawks bounced back to take a 7-4 victory in the nightcap against the non-conference foe. The first six innings of the opening round proved to be a pitcher’s duel, as neither team was able to send a runner past the plate with RPI senior Sara Finkbeiner and Middlebury sophomores Ali McAnaney and Geena Constantin commanding the mound.
RPI had the best chance of the game in the top of the fifth inning, as Finkbeiner tripled to right field with two outs on the board. Finkbeiner tried to convert that triple to an inside-the-park homerun; but she was put out at home when Panthers sophomore outfielder Emily Burbridge sent the ball to freshman catcher Alyson Downing, who was able to tag Finkbeiner out at home.
The lone run of the game came at the bottom of the seventh, as Finkbeiner walked two Panthers, loading the bases. Burbridge proved to be an unmovable thorn in RPI’s side as she knocked home a base runner with an RBI single up the middle of the field, ending the game 1-0.
Constantin collected the win, while Finkbeiner shouldered only her second loss of the season.
The Red Hawks were out for revenge in game two, as sophomore pitcher Jen Bach threw her third complete game of the season and allowed only two earned runs for the 7-4 victory.
Both teams remained in a scoreless tie through two innings, before Rensselaer knocked home four runs off Middlebury starting pitcher freshman Ahsley Higgins. Following an RBI double by sophomore Alysa Rochminski, Finkbeiner added another run to pull the Red Hawks ahead 2-0. With runners on first and third, a double steal—including a steal of home by freshman Kelly Erkert—RPI closed the frame with an RBI double from junior Becky Bailey to end on top at 4-0.
Middlebury mounted a four-run comeback in the sixth inning after Bach brought home a runner with an RBI single in the fifth. However, Rensselaer responded with an RBI double by Rochminski to left field to end with the 7-4 lead. The Panthers held several chances to tie the game up in the final inning, but Bach stood strong and retired the batters she faced to end the game. Bach finished with four strikeouts, and allowed only four runs on the day in her sixth win of the season.
That momentum carried through to Friday’s game against Elms College in Chicopee, Mass. Sophomore pitcher Felicia Bua earned her team-leading eighth win of the season for RPI as the Red Hawks trounced the Blazers by a margin of 10-1.
After Rochminski and fellow sophomore Jessica Sitzer knocked home Bach and Bailey off a pair of RBI singles, the game turned into a Red Hawk slug-fest as Rensselaer finished the game by mercy rule with an eight-run sixth inning.
The sixth saw a pair of back-to-back bunt singles from Finkbeiner and Bailey, followed by a two-run RBI double from freshman Sara Heller. Senior Julianne Bass also blasted a two-run RBI double, followed by an RBI single from Rochminski, a two-run single from Finkbeiner, and an RBI double by Bailey to bring home Sitzer.
The Blazer’s lone run came off an RBI single by freshman Alicia Campbell to bring home classmate Jennifer Killon.
Bua struck out seven in the complete game effort, and allowed one run on only two hits. For the Blazers, sophomore pitcher Ani Ramsdell took the loss, allowing eight runs on 13 hits in the complete game effort.
The Red Hawks’ win streak proved to be short lived, as nationally-ranked Rochester took down Rensselaer in a two-game sweep this past Sunday, falling by scores of 7-0 and 6-3.
Rochester senior pitcher Beth Ameno stayed solid on the mound, earning the two wins on the day with a combined 10.2 scoreless innings of play. In game one, Ameno kept the Red Hawks at bay, allowing only one hit and walking one, while striking out 11.
Bach and Ameno dueled the first game out for the opening four innings, with neither pitcher allowing the other team to score. However, it was RPI that broke first, allowing a solo home run in the fifth inning to sophomore Erin Clark for the unstoppable lead.
Rochester knocked four more runs in the sixth, and two more in the seventh off a two-run blast from freshman Kim Grimes.
Bach took the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits, while striking out three in 5.1 innings of play before being relieved by Bua in the sixth.
The second game of the twinbill was more evenly matched, as the Red Hawks fell three runs short of tying the Yellowjackets and sending the game into extra innings.
The visitors took the early lead as sophomore Yellowjacket Lindsay Macalusco knocked a homerun off the opening pitch of the game to left field for her team-leading 11th of the season. Rochester added three more runs in the second before the Red Hawks were even able to place on the boards.
Rensselaer sophomore Genevieve Falco and Rochminski registered back-to-back hits. However, Rochminski found herself tagged out after trying to convert her double to a triple, and getting caught at third. RPI pulled within three runs in the fourth inning off an RBI double by Bass and a run-scoring ground-out from Rochminski.
Ameno came in for relief of Rochester freshman Sara Hutchinson in the fourth and allowed only seven hits over the final 3.2 innings of play. In her five innings of play, Bach allowed two runs on four hits while striking out two.
Leading the way for the Red Hawks was Falco, who went four-for-four in game two, and Bailey and Bass, who both finished two-for-four.
The Red Hawks will finish the regular season on the road with three final doubleheaders. On Thursday, the team heads out to Utica College for a twinbill beginning at 3:30 pm, followed by a Capital District showdown against Union College on Friday at 3 pm, and versus Skidmore College on Saturday at 1 pm.
