RedStorm tops Capital in extras

Rio Grande Sports Information
     COLUMBUS, Ohio - Natalie Bates connected on a run-scoring single in the 10th inning and Kendyl Moss plated an insurance marker with a sacrifice fly to lift the University of Rio Grande to an 8-6 win over Capital University, Sunday afternoon, in non-conference softball action at Clowson Field.
     The RedStorm pushed their season record to 30-16 with the victory.
     Capital, an NCAA Division III school, slipped to 16-13 with the loss.
     The game was a late addition to the RedStorm schedule after the Comets had their Senior Day put in jeopardy when the scheduled opponent backed out to make up a conference game.
     Rio Grande, which was one game short of its allowable total of scheduled contests, agreed to make the trip north for the single game.
     Head coach Chris Hammond's club took a 2-0 first inning lead by scoring a pair of runs on a throwing error, but the hosts jumped in front by scoring four times in the bottom of the fifth.
     That's how things stayed until freshman Macy Kise (Milford Center, OH) connected on a two-out home run in the top of the seventh inning - the first longball of her collegiate career - to tie the game at 4-all.
     Capital put runners at first and second with two outs in the bottom of the frame, but failed to push across the game-winning run and forced the game into extra innings.
     Using the International Tiebreaker Rule where the batter making the last out in the previous inning is placed on second base to begin the new inning, both teams scored one run each in the eighth and ninth frames to knot the score at 6-6.
     Rio's runs came on a double by Moss - a junior from Cincinnati, Ohio - in the eighth inning and a sacrifice fly by junior Mady Vivace (Indianapolis, IN) in the ninth.
     The RedStorm 10th inning began with Kise placed at second and junior Nigella Reck (Covington, OH) followed with a single up the middle to put runners on the corners.
     Bates, a senior from Vandalia, Ohio, followed with a hit to score Kise before Moss hit a sacrifice fly to right to plate Reck and make it 8-6.
     In the Capital half of the inning, Megan Parry attempted to bunt teammate Shelby Allen over to third base, but the plan backfired when Allen was thrown out in a rundown between third and home after a wide rounding of the third base bag.
     Reagan Irons followed with a flyout to right to end the near 2-1/2-hour marathon.
     Reck finished 3-for-4 in the victory, while Moss and Kise both had two hits and two RBI and Bates finished 2-for-4 with a run batted in.
     Freshman Brynlyn Denny (Jackson, OH) also had a double in the winning effort.
     Kise earned the win in relief of freshman starter Meredith Pieratt (Eaton, OH), allowing four hits and four runs - only one earned - over 5-2/3 innings.
     Megan Mlinaric went the distance and took the loss for Capital, tossing 170 pitches in the process.
     Autumn Bridges drove in two runs for the Comets, while Morgan Priest, Ryanne Wilson, Allen and Audrey Thomas all had a double.
     Rio Grande is scheduled to return to action on Friday when it hosts rival Shawnee State University in the final home contests of the season.
     First pitch is set for 2 p.m.