Rhode Island Starters
Miller (2B), Bulinski (C), Knarr (1B), Sterner (DP), Torres (SS), Orndorff (LF), Power (3B), Jones (RF), Hernandez (CF), Vale-Cruz (P)
Holy Cross Starters
Sniegocki (CF), Trudgen (LF), Brait (SS), Thibault (3B), Goedel (DP), Pietrzak (1B), Ventrelle (2B), Fong (C), Emery (RF), Toddings (P)
How it Happened
Rhode Island outlasted Holy Cross, winning a 10-inning marathon 3-2 in the first game of a doubleheader Thursday afternoon.
With
Katie Knarr on first base and one out,
Julianne Torres lined a double to the gap in left center. The ball rolled all the way to the fence, allowing Knarr to motor all the way around and beat the throw to the plate.
The hit helped make a winner out of pitcher
Avery Vale-Cruz (4-4), who pitched all 10 innings for Rhode Island (12-28). It was the second complete game in as many days for the sophomore, who allowed just four hits and one earned run. Vale-Cruz flirted with a no-hitter, going 5.1 innings before the first Holy Cross hit.
The Rams broke through in the top of the fifth inning.
Hannah Hernandez led off with a single. She moved all the way around to third after
Casey Miller dropped a sacrifice bunt. With two down,
Katie Knarr drilled a double to the gap in right center to bring Hernandez in with the run. One batter later, an error on a fly ball by
Noelle Sterner allowed pinch runner
Ella Morris to score from second for a 2-0 lead.
Holy Cross (7-31) got single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to even the score. Ava Gambichler doubled down the left field line to break up the no-hit bid by Vale-Cruz with one out in the fifth. An error by
Julianne Torres put runners on the corners. With two outs, Sniegocki singled to bring Gambichler in to make the score 2-1. In the sixth, Emma Pietrzak reached on a two-out infield single to drive in Caroline Higgins with the tying run.
Freshman
Allison Jones made the play of the game in the bottom of the ninth. With one out and runners on the corners, Silje Emery lofted a fly ball down the right field line. Jones made the running catch and managed to turn her body and fire a throw home to knab Pietrzak trying to tag up and score. The defensive gem sent the game to the 10th inning, setting up the game-winning hit by Torres.
Inside the Box Score
- In addition to scoring the game-winning run, freshman Katie Knarr doubled, singled twice, walked and had one run batted in.
- Junior Hannah Hernandez singled twice and scored a run.
- Junior Kylie Bulinski singled and walked twice. She extended her hitting streak to eight games.
- After throwing out two runners trying to steal at Massachusetts yesterday, Bulinski threw out another one Thursday.
- Sophomore Sydney Orndorff singled three times, walked and stole a base.
- She extended her hitting streak to five games. During the streak, she has nine hits.
- Sophomore Avery Vale-Cruz threw 146 pitches while going the distance. She struck out five batters and walked just two.
Up Next
Rhode Island travels for a three-game series at George Washington this weekend. The teams are scheduled for a doubleheader on Saturday, April 26 and a single game on Sunday, April 27. Any weather-related schedule changes will be posted to GoRhody.com.