“The end of the season is the toughest time.” Those words, spoken by RPI softball Coach Erika Lewis, couldn’t have been more right last week as the Red Hawks were scheduled to play eight games in five days, including their last two Liberty League doubleheaders.
With Saturday’s twin bill with RIT cancelled due to inclement weather, Rensselaer stumbled to a 2-4 record, splitting games with Manhattanville and Rochester before being swept at the hands of bitter rival Union.
In Monday’s doubleheader against the two league titans, the Red Hawks lost 7-1 in the day’s first game and fell 3-2 in a close rematch later that afternoon.
The RPI batters seemed overmatched at times as they were baffled by Union pitchers Abby Arceneaux in game one and Jackie Coffey in game two. “Abby threw the best game I’ve ever seen her throw,” complimented Lewis, “and I think we were trying to guess her pitches too much.” Lewis went on to add, “We were hitting Jackie early, but she came back strong in the later innings.” The Union tandem would combine to strike out 23 Red Hawks on the day.
In the opening game, Union came out strong early, tagging Rensselaer ace Nikki Dooley for three runs on five hits before recording a single out. The sophomore would settle down after that, not allowing another offensive explosion until the sixth, where she would yield another three runs to the powerful Union bats.
“Her pitches weren’t working as well as usual,” explained Lewis of her game one starter. “She also wasn’t hitting her spots like she normally does.”
Offensively, Dooley, junior Amy Huling, and sophomore Abby Eldridge were the only Red Hawks able to solve Arceneaux. Each recorded two hits in three at bats, with Dooley earning RPI’s only RBI of the day, knocking home Huling with a single in the second inning.
Game two gave the impression that it would be a different story for the Red Hawks, however, as co-captain Lizzie Vitaliano led off the game with a double off the wall in center field. The senior would score three batters later when Union catcher Catherine Kielb hurled a wild throw to second in a failed attempt to catch Red Hawk Stephanie Vanek stealing.
Unfortunately for RPI, it would be one of only two times a Red Hawk would cross the plate. They did threaten often, however. After the first, Rensselaer got runners into scoring position in four of the next five innings, but failed to capitalize on all but one of those opportunities.
In the top of the sixth inning with one out and freshman Logan Russell on first, trailing Union 2-1, designated hitter Melissa Manzo sent a towering shot to straightaway center field. The ball tipped the glove of Union centerfielder Julie Gawronski, who subsequently crashed into the wall, bringing part of the wall down with her. Manzo was awarded a ground-rule double and Russell moved to third. An Eldridge sacrifice fly would bring Russell home to tie the game at 2-2, but that would be all the Red Hawks could muster in the inning.
Union quickly answered back in the bottom of the frame, scoring on a Russell throwing error, and taking back the lead 3-2. Coffey would sit down the heart of the Red Hawk order in the seventh to end the game.
RPI’s other two match-ups last week were marked by inconsistency. Thursday in Purchase, N.Y., the Red Hawks fell 9-3 in game one before drubbing the Valiants 13-0 in the rematch. On Sunday, back in Troy, Rensselaer lost a heartbreaker to Rochester in extra-innings before squeezing by the Yellowjackets 6-4 in game two, despite committing five errors. “The splits were definitely disappointing,” lamented Lewis.
Manhattanville scored in all but one inning in the first game, taking an early lead on Red Hawk pitcher Katie Mahoney, and never relinquishing it. “Katie didn’t have her game that day,” said Lewis, “but no player is ‘on’ every day. Plus, we didn’t get the job done offensively for her.”
In the second game, RPI exploded for 13 runs on 18 hits, including two homeruns by Manzo and another round-tripper by Russell. “We came out regrouped and refocused in the second game,” praised Lewis.
Against Rochester, the Red Hawks looked good in the first game until a five-run Yellowjackets sixth inning pushed the game into extra frames, where they again erupted, this time for four runs in the eighth en route to the 9-5 victory.
“Nikki looked real good through five,” commented Lewis, “but then [Rochester] caught up with her. They’re a real good hitting team.”
RPI salvaged the split in game two in large part to a bases-clearing triple by Russell in the third inning. The triple was part of a five-run frame for the Red Hawks, who went on to win 6-4.
RPI has two doubleheaders remaining on its schedule, today at Williams College and tomorrow at home versus Western Connecticut State. After a disappointing week, the Red Hawks will need to sweep both opponents to keep their dim hopes of an NCAA tournament bid alive.
“If we sweep, that’ll leave us 23-6,” explained Lewis, “and then it will just depend on how many at-large bids the committee gives out. There’s always a chance.”
