NAPLES, Fla. - The Rockford University softball team concluded its spring trip with a pair of wins on Thursday against Western Connecticut State (WestConn) and SUNY Potsdam.
Mariah Martinez pitched an absolute gem in the opener to propel the Regents to a 4-0 win over WestConn. It was her first complete game shutout of the season, and she also struck out a career-high nine batters. The Regents then capped off their spring trip with a 9-3 win over SUNY Potsdam. Rockford exploded for four runs in the first inning and never looked back. The wins improve the Regents' record to 4-4 on the year.
Rockford 4 WestConn 0
- Senior starting pitcher Mariah Martinez stole the show in the opener. Martinez had a no-hitter through 3.1 innings and did not allow a batter to reach third base safely in the entire game. She allowed just three hits during her complete game shutout and struck out a career-high nine batters. Martinez fanned at least one batter in five of the seven innings, including four innings where she recorded two strikeouts.
- The Regent offense finally broke the scoreless tie with a run in the top of the sixth. Although Rockford did not have a hit in the inning, Candace Kipp led off the frame with a walk and then worked her way to second, before ultimately scoring on a WestConn error.
- Rockford would essentially put the game away with a three-run seventh. Kariana Williams drove in the first run of the inning with a RBI triple. A couple of batter later, Isabella Intravaia drove in Williams on a sacrifice fly. The Regents final run came on a first and third play where Candace Kipp scored before the runner on first was tagged out in a rundown.
- Mariah Martinez retired the side in order in the bottom of the seventh, including a pair of strikeouts, to secure the 4-0 win.
Rockford 9 SUNY Potsdam 3
- The Bears struck first with a single run in the top of the first. SUNY Potsdam tallied three singles through the first four batters of the game to take an early 1-0 lead.
- Fortunately, Rockford responded with four runs of its own in the bottom half of the inning. Candace Kipp knocked in the first run of the inning on an RBI groundout to second base to tie the game at 1-1. The Regents then scored on back-to-back errors to grab a 3-1 advantage. A couple of batters later, Lauren Zielinski and Emily Down executed a double steal with Zielinski scoring on the play, to make it a 4-1 Rockford lead.
- The Regents added single runs in second and fourth innings to extend the lead to 6-1. Rockford scored on yet another Bear error in the second and then off a Kariana Williams RBI single through the left side of the infield in the fourth.
- However, SUNY Potsdam trimmed the RU lead back down to three with a pair of runs off three hits in the top of the fifth.
- Fortunately, Rockford added a single run in the fifth and two more in the sixth to put the game out of reach. Bella Lima cracked an RBI double to right field to plate the first of the two runs in the sixth. She would later advance to third and then score on a pair of wild pitches.
- The Regents' nine runs were more than enough for the pitching duo of Rylee Klema and Mariah Martinez. Klema threw five solid innings allowing just three runs. Martinez then slammed the door shut with a pair of scoreless innings to preserve the win.
WestConn
- Mariah Martinez tossed her second complete game as a Regent and her first since the 2021 season. She went all 7 innings, allowing just 3 hits and striking out a career-high 9 batters. This was the third straight win in as many games for Martinez.
- Kariana Williams was 1-for-4 with a triple, a run scored and an RBI.
- Candace Kipp walked an incredible 4 times to tie the RU single-game record and also scored 2 runs.
- Jocelyn Callahan was 1-for-2 with 2 walks and a run scored.
SUNY Potsdam
- Bella Lima was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles, 4 runs scored, an RBI and tied the school record with 4 stolen bases.
- Isabella Intravaia was 1-for-4 with a stolen base and 2 runs scored.
- Kariana Williams finished 1-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI.
- Rylee Klema earned her first win of the season. She threw 5 strong innings, allowing just 3 runs, while striking out 3.
- Mariah Martinez tossed the final two innings, allowing no runs off 2 hits.
