Rio softball ousted from NAIA tourney
Rio Grande Sports Information
HARDEEVILLE, S.C. - Kristin Benton's two-out, run-scoring single in the fifth inning snapped a 2-2 tie and lifted top-seeded Campbellsville University to a 3-2 win over the University of Rio Grande, Tuesday night, in an elimination game of the NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round's USC-Beaufort Bracket at the Richard Gray Sports Complex.
The Tigers, who ranked No. 7 in the latest NAIA coaches poll, improved to 36-9 and avenged an opening game loss to the RedStorm on Monday afternoon.
Campbellsville will face regional host and No. 2 seed University of South Carolina-Beaufort for the tournament title on Wednesday at noon. A second final, if needed, would follow at 3 p.m.
The regional champion will move on to the NAIA World Series, which begins May 22 in Sioux City, Iowa.
Rio Grande, the No. 4 seed in the regional, finished its season at 32-16 with the loss. The 32 wins represented the second-highest single-season total in the program's history.
The RedStorm, who rallied for three runs in their final at bat to defeat Campbellsville on Monday, appeared poised to do the same thing again on Tuesday night.
Junior Kim Rollins (Cincinnati, OH) was hit by a pitch to begin the Rio seventh and moved to second when she beat the throw on freshman Tayler Arndt's (Clyde, OH) sacrifice bunt attempt along the third base line.
Junior Ariel Roder (Parma Heights, OH) bunted both runners into scoring position, but Campbellsville starter Neely Quint retired sophomore Alex Kuhn (Oak Hill, OH) on a grounder to third base and senior Haley Gwin (Troy, OH) on a flyball to right field to end the game.
Quint improved to 18-5 with the victory, limiting Rio to just two hits.
Freshman Mallory Powell (Flatwoods, KY) pitched well, but suffered her third loss in 11 decisions. The right-hander allowed nine hits and three runs - two earned - while walking one and striking out three.
The Tigers took a 1-0 lead in the second inning when Adrean Jordan reached on a two-out single, advanced to second thanks to an error on the same play and scored on a bloop single to center by Shelby Ray.
The advantage grew to 2-0 in the third when Brianna Scott doubled with one out, moved to third on a wild pitch and scored on a groundout by Hailey Szpila.
Rio Grande, which went down in order in each of the first three innings, tied the game in the fourth when senior Jessi Robinson (Wilmington, OH) reached on an error, was bunted into scoring position and scored on back-to-back singles by sophomore Cheyenne Hamaker (Hilliard, OH) and Rollins. A fielder's choice grounder by Arndt moments later tied the game.
Campbellsville wasted little time in regaining the advantage, though, when Scott was hit by a pitch to begin the fifth, bunted into scoring position by Szpila and scored on Benton's two-out single.
Benton, Jordan and Ray all had two hits in the winning effort for the Tigers.
The loss marked the final game in the collegiate careers of Robinson and Gwin.