Rio Grande Sports Information
RIO GRANDE, Ohio - Suffice to say it was not the start to Senior Weekend that the University of Rio Grande softball team was looking for.
Yes, the RedStorm did post a dramatic 3-2 extra-inning win over St. Mary-of-the-Woods College in Friday afternoon's opening game of their River States Conference doubleheader at Rio Softball Park.
The back end of the twin bill didn't turn out as well, though.
Lanna Martinez, whom head coach Chris Hammond's squad pummeled when the two teams met just under a month ago in Indiana, tossed a three-hit shutout as the Pomeroys squeaked out a 1-0 triumph in game two.
Rio Grande finished the day at 28-15 overall and 21-9 in league play.
The split, coupled with Shawnee State Unversity's sweep of Oakland City, all but erases any hopes that the RedStorm had of earning a No. 2 seed and a first round bye in the RSC Championship Tournament, which begins April 30 in South Charleston, W.Va.
St. Mary-of-the-Woods finished the day at 13-25 overall and 11-19 against conference foes.
The Pomeroys scored what proved to be the lone run of game two in the fourth inning when Caeden Bennett singled with one out and Hannah Boardman followed with a single to left which moved pinch-runner Isabelle Waldron to second.
One out later, Waldron recorded a delayed steal of third and scored on a single to shallow left-center field off the bat of Bailey Duke.
Meanwhile, Rio Grande did next to nothing offensively against Martinez, who surrendered just three singles with no walks and three strikeouts.
The RedStorm failed to advance a runner beyond first base in the loss.
Senior Meg McCallum (Belmont, Ontario, Canada) was the hard-luck loser for Rio, allowing eight hits - all singles - and the one run in a complete game effort.
Boardman and Kyar McVey had two hits each in the win for SMWC.
Game one saw Rio Grande rally from a 1-0 first inning defict before coughing up a 2-1 lead in the fourth inning and rallying to win in the bottom of the eighth inning.
The Pomeroys took their early lead on an RBI double by Jenna Baker, but the RedStorm moved in front in the third on a two-out, run-scoring hit by junior Nigella Reck (Covington, OH) and a subsequent RBI double by freshman Macy Kise (Milford Center, OH).
St. Mary-of-the-Woods tied the game in the fourth with an unearned run after a Rio error and the two teams remained scoreless until the home half of the eighth inning.
Reck began the frame with a double to deep right-center and, one out later, scored the winning run when she just beat the throw to plate on junior Kendyl Moss' (Cincinnati, OH) single to right field.
Reck finished 2-for-3 in the win, while senior Natalie Bates (Vandalia, OH) also had a double.
Kise allowed eight hits and a pair of unearned runs with six strikeouts over seven innings, but it was McCallum who got the win by tossing a perfect eighth inning in relief.
Jasmine Kinzer, whom the RedStorm also roughed up in their road sweep of the Pomeroys last month, pitched well in a losing cause. She allowed seven hits and walked three with four strikeouts in a complete game effort.
Baker, Bennett and Carley Werremeyer all had two hits in the loss for SMWC.
Rio Grande will return to action on Saturday when it hosts Indiana University Southeast for a Senior Day doubleheader.
First pitch for game one will be at 11 a.m. as the two teams try to avoid inclement weather scheduled for later in the afternoon.
