Bulldogs split with Robert Morris Sun. on Senior Day

SOFTBALL TOPS ROBERT MORRIS IN GAME 1, 4-3, BEFORE DROPPING GAME 2, 4-3, SUN. ON SENIOR DAY

SMITHFIELD, R.I. – On Senior Day 2013, the Bryant University softball team split an afternoon doubleheader with Robert Morris, winning Game 1, 4-3 (8 innings) before dropping Game 2, 4-3, Saturday in Smithfield.

Game 1

With two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, junior shortstop Aubrey Mable (Aurora, Colo.) hit a blooper into shallow center field, as a miscue by the Colonials allowed junior catcher Kendall Corder (Carmichael, Calif.) to score the game-winning run, lifting Bryant to a 4-3 extra-inning victory.

Senior Jennifer Jacob (Deer Park, N.Y) was sensational for the second-straight game, picking up her third-consecutive win, allowing just three runs on six hits in eight innings of work.

In a true pitcher's duel, runs were difficult to come by but Robert Morris broke the scoreless tie in the top of the second inning, scoring a pair to take the early, 2-0, advantage. Bryant responded in the bottom of the fifth off a solo homerun from freshman Elle Madsen (Wheat Ridge, Colo.), cutting the lead to just one run after five.

In the seventh, the Colonials pushed another run across in the form of an Ashley Gerhart solo homer, but the Bulldogs would not go away quietly, as senior third baseman Christina Erinigis (Tewksbury, Mass.) blasted a two-run jack to left center, scoring Madsen and knotting the game at 3-3.

After holding the visitors in the top of the eighth, Corder doubled to left center to start the two-out rally, setting the table for Mable to drive her in and deliver the game-winning at bat.

Madsen led the Bulldogs with a huge day, going 2-for-3 with a homerun and two runs scored, while Erinigis accounted for the rest of the Bryant offense with the two-run bomb.

Game 2

In the second game of Saturday's doubleheader, the Colonials got their revenge, overcoming a two-run deficit to win, 4-3.

Unlike in Game 1, the Bulldogs jumped of Robert Morris starter Geena Badolato early, as Corder scored on a wild pitch to grant Bryant the early 1-0 lead. In the next inning, Bryant's aggressive work on the base paths paid off again as junior Amy Wienberg (Pleasant Valley, N.Y.) scored on a Liana Ogata (Tustin, Calif.) groundout, doubling the Bulldog advantage.

Robert Morris knotted the game up in the top of the fourth, first with a Maritza Jimenez solo homerun to left field and then a Kristen Gabelt RBI single to center field. The Colonials added two more runs in the top of the fifth off a Chelsea Sair two-run single through the left side of the infield.

Bryant added one more run in the bottom of the fifth off an Ogata steal, but Badolato was too much as the visitors picked up a huge 4-3 victory over the streaking Bulldogs.

Bryant starter Brittany Hart (North Andover, Mass.) was solid, allowing just five one earned run (four total) on five hits in four innings of work. Freshman Katelin Saunders (Laguna Niguel, Calif.) and Madsen allowed just one hits in three combined innings in the circle.

Corder and Mable each tallied two hits on the afternoon, while Ogata recorded the long RBI for the Bulldogs.

Bryant will wrap-up its regular season on Thursday (4 p.m.) when it visits Boston College for a rematch with the Eagles in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

For all the latest news on the Bryant University softball team, visit BryantBulldogs.com.