BEREA, Ky. -- The Rose-Hulman softball team picked up two road wins on Saturday, taking down the Berea Mountaineers with final scores of 6-1 and 13-3. This advances the Fightin' Engineers to 14-20 overall and 4-10 in the HCAC.
Rose-Hulman dominated in the first game of the day. After three scoreless innings, the Fightin' Engineers exploded offensively with six runs in the top of the fourth.
A single by
Lucille Pyrz brought in a run by
Katelyn Sarvis to get the team on the board. A walk by
Emily Hodges with the bases loaded scored another run by
Kyra Tucker. Then
Jessica Newsom cleared the bases with a grand slam home run that built a commanding lead for the Fightin' Engineers at 6-0.
The Mountaineers added one run in the bottom of the seventh to avoid the shutout, but Rose-Hulman came away with the win.
Newsom was the star in game one, going 3-4 with one run scored and four RBIs.
Aubrey Smith had a stellar outing in the circle, pitching the entire 7.0 innings with three strikeouts while only allowing four hits and one earned run.
Rose-Hulman was able to carry the momentum into the second game of the day, defeating Berea after five innings. A single by Smith put the team in front early with a run by Newsom. Rose-Hulman added three more runs in the top of the second by Sarvis, Travioli, and Coleman to make the score 4-0.
Berea answered with three runs in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit to 4-3. In the top of the third, Coleman reached on a fielder's choice, bringing in a score by
Jadyn Winkler to add to the Rose lead, making it 5-3.
A double by
Abigale Shearer in the fourth inning extended the Fightin' Engineers' advantage to 7-3 with runs by Winkler and Smith.
The team sealed the victory with six more runs in the top of the fifth, capped off by a grand slam home run from Shearer, scoring runs by Winkler, Smith, and Newsom. The homer was the first career home run for Shearer in her freshman season with Rose-Hulman. This would be enough to earn the Fightin' Engineers the run-rule victory with a final score of 13-3 after five innings.
Newsom was the standout again, finishing the game, going 3-4 with two runs and three RBIs. Shearer was another explosive hitter, finishing the game going 2-4 with one run and six RBIs.
Audrey Theuring represented the team in the circle in game two, throwing the entire 5.0 innings with four strikeouts, allowing just two earned runs.
The Rose-Hulman softball team currently sits in eighth in the HCAC standings, three games behind the sixth-place team. The top six teams will make it to the HCAC Tournament.
Rose-Hulman will return home to host the Hanover Panthers in their final home game of the season on Wednesday, April 29, at 5:30 PM and 7:30 PM.
