Rio Grande Sports Information
GRAYSON, Ky. - University of Rio Grande pitching limited host Kentucky Christian University to just one run and 10 hits en route to a doubleheader sweep of the Knights, Thursday evening, in River States Conference softball action at Grayson Sports Park.
The RedStorm posted a 6-1 win in the opener, while tallying a 5-0 triumph in the nightcap.
The games were moved up from their originally scheduled Saturday date to avoid inclement weather which is forecast for the area.
Rio Grande finished the day at 32-16 overall and 24-10 in conference play, while also keeping alive its slim chance of earning a No. 2 seed in the upcoming RSC Tournament.
The RedStorm would need a sweep of Shawnee State in Friday's regular season finale at Rio Softball Park, in addition to the Bears losing at least once to West Virginia University Tech on Saturday.
Regardless, head coach Chris Hammond's squad can do no worse than a No. 3 seed in the tournament, which gets underway next weekend in South Charleston, W.Va.
Kentucky Christian dropped to 22-24 overall and 14-20 in the RSC as a result of the two losses and saw its post-season hopes dealt a severe blow.
The Knights, who close out their regular season schedule at WVU Tech on Friday, need a sweep of the Golden Bears - in addition to Indiana University Columbus stubbing its toes against St. Mary-of-the-Woods College and regular season league champ Oakland City University - to claim the sixth and final spot in the tourney field.
In Thursday's opener, freshman Macy Kise (Milford Center, OH) allowed six hits and two walks while striking out five in a complete game effort for Rio Grande.
Senior Meg McCallum (Belmont, Ontario, Canada) authored a four-hit shutout - her second of the season and the team's fourth - in the nightcap, walking two and fanning two in the process.
Rio Grande did its offensive damage in the latter stages of each contest, scoring five times over the final two innings in game one and getting all of its runs in the fourth and fifth frames in game two.
A second inning run-scoring single by sophomore Lindzie Runions (Poca, WV) and a sixth inning sacrifice fly by senior Natalie Bates (Vandalia, OH) gave Rio a 2-0 lead in the opener, but the Knights sliced the deficit in half in the bottom of the sixth thanks to an RBI double by Hannah Melton.
The RedStorm put the game on ice, though, by pushing across four runs in the seventh inning.
Junior Nigella Reck (Covington, OH) had a run-scoring double before Kise, junior Kendyl Moss (Cincinnati, OH) and sophomore Emily Lane (Charlotte, N.C.) all added RBI singles.
McCallum finished 3-for-4 at the plate in the winning effort, while Reck and Bates had two hits each.
Kylie Mathes had two hits and Rebecca Engler doubled in the loss for Kentucky Christian.
Sara Bays suffered the setback in the circle for the Knights, allowing 11 hits and all six runs over 6-2/3 innings.
In game two, Rio Grande scored twice in the fourth inning thanks to an RBI single by Bates and a sacrifice fly by Lane to snap a scoreless tie and then pulled away in the fifth thanks to a two-run single by Reck - and an error on the same play - which allowed Reck to circle the bases.
Reck also had an earlier double for the RedStorm, which had just five hits of their own.
Abby McPherson started and lost the nightcap for KCU, allowing four hits and all five runs in 6-1/3 innings.
The opening game of Friday's regular season finale against Shawnee State is scheduled for a 2 p.m. first pitch.
