Softball defeats St. Lawrence, 8-0 (6 inn.) to open Liberty League Tournament; falls, 5-1 to RPI

TROY, N.Y. – RIT opened the Liberty League Softball Tournament with a six-inning, 8-0 victory over St. Lawrence, before falling, 5-1, to host RPI, Thursday.
 
The fourth-seeded Tigers moved past the fifth-seeded Saints in the tournament play-in game, before falling to the top-seeded Engineers in the opening game of the four-team, double-elimination portion of the tournament.
 
PLAY-IN GAME – RIT 8, ST. LAWRENCE 0

• RIT junior Maddy Cook went 3-for-4 with a homerun, two runs scored and two RBI to lead a 14-hit performance by the Tigers.
• Sophomore Jessica Majot earned the victory in the circle, only allowing four hits and two walks while striking out five batters in the six-inning complete game.
• Cook led off the second inning with her third homerun of the season to open the scoring.
• The Tigers broke the game open with a four-run third inning. Senior Elise Guth led off with a double to right-center and eventually came home on a double by junior Bailey Kehl to center. Junior Erin Ozminkowski plated Kehl with a two-out single to left before first-year Maria Minemier reached on a SLU fielding error. Junior Kristin Hino brought both runners home with a single to left for a 5-0 lead.
• RIT scored two more runs with two outs in the fourth. Junior Lillian Rienstra reached on an infield single and came all the way around on a double by Kehl. Cook then plated Kehl with a single to centerfield for a 7-0 edge.
• The Tigers strung together three-straight hits with two outs in the sixth, including a RBI single by Minemier that scored Cook for the eight run lead to end the game. 

GAME 1 – RPI 5, RIT 1

• RIT held RPI to one run through five innings before the Engineers broke through with a four-run sixth inning to pull away for the victory.
• RPI broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the fourth with three hits, including a two-out RBI.
• The Engineers tacked on four runs on three hits and two walks in the sixth inning.
• Kehl led off the top of the seventh with a single to right, finally solving RPI starter Brooke Sroczinski for the Tigers' first hit of the game. Cook moved Kehl to second with a sacrifice bunt before reaching third on an Ozminkowski infield hit. Minemier followed with an RBI single to break the shutout.
• Majot only allowed one hit through the first three innings before running into trouble in the fourth. Junior Lexi Pieri threw an inning and two-thirds of relief, allowing three hits and four earned.    

WHAT'S NEXT
RIT will look to play its way back through the double-elimination tournament on Friday, starting with a 12:30 p.m. game opposite third-seeded Ithaca, which fell to second-seeded Rochester, 3-1, in Thursday's other tournament action.