Softball splits two games on final day in Florida; defeats Alfred St, 8-6; falls to Cobleskill 11-9

NAPLES, Fla. - The RIT Softball team closed its season-opening spring break trip to Florida with a split, Wednesday, defeating Alfred State, 8-6, before falling to Cobleskil, 11-9.

RIT 8, ALFRED STATE 6

• RIT jumped out to a 6-0 lead through three innings, but after Alfred State scored two runs in the fourth and tied the game with four more in the top of the sixth, the Tigers scored the deciding two runs in the bottom of the sixth.
• RIT loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the second before Maria Minemier came home from third on a wild pitch.
• An inning later, the Tigers brought five runs across with two outs. Maddy Cook reached on a Alfred State error and, after heading to second on a single by Kate Carlone, came home on a two-run double by Erin Ozminkowski. Minemier followed with a run-scoring double and came home after another Pioneer error off the bat of Sylvia White before White scored on an Emma Merkley single to left for a 6-0 lead.
• Alfred State got two back on a two-out, two-run double in the fourth before later tying the game in a sixth inning that saw RIT issue five walks and hit two batters.
• After loading the bases in the bottom half of the inning, RIT scored what proved to be the deciding runs on RBI hits by Ozminkowski and White.
• Carlone and White each finished 3-for-4 and scored a run while White added two RBI.
• Ozminkowski ended the game 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI while Merkley was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
• Jessica Majot earned the victory, allowing six runs (five earned) on four hits while striking out seven in 5.2 innings of work.  

COBLESKILL 11, RIT 9

• RIT opened the scoring with three runs in the top of the second. White doubled home Minemier, who had reached on an error to lead off the inning, before scoring on another error on a ball hit by Carlianna Ewing. Merkley followed with a single to plate Ewing. 
• Cobleskill got two back in the bottom of the second, but RIT retook the lead, 5-2, after White brought two runs home with a two-out hit to right that plated Cook and Bailey Kehl, who had led off the inning with back-to-back hits. 
• Cobleskill scored a pair of unearned runs in the third and tied the game, 5-5, with a run in the fourth. 
• RIT broke the tie after Ozminkowski reached on a Cobleskill fielding error to lead off the fifth before advancing to third on a Baretela single to right. Kathryn Baretela drew a throw attempting to steal second that allowed Ozminkowski to score. 
• Cobleskill rode a six-run outburst in the fifth inning, taking advantage of five walks, two hits and a wild pitch allowed by the Tigers, en route to an 11-6 edge.
• RIT brought across two runs in the top of the sixth, but was unable to complete the comeback. 
• White finished 2-for-4 with a double, a run scored and three RBI in the loss.

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT is off for two weeks before opening the northern portion of the schedule with a road doubleheader at St. John Fisher slated to start at 3:00 p.m. on March. 26th.