Rio Grande Sports Information
CRESTVIEW HILLS, Ky. - The University of Rio Grande closed out the road portion of its regular season schedule in style, notching a doubleheader sweep of Thomas More University in non-conference action at the Thomas More Softball Complex.
The RedStorm recorded a 7-5 victory in the opener, while earning a 5-3 triumph over the Saints in the nightcap.
Rio Grande pushed its overall record to 28-14 with the victories, while also extending its winning streak to nine straight games.
Thomas More, in its final season as member of the Mid-South Conference and the NAIA in general, dropped to 22-16 with the two losses.
In game one, Rio Grande broke things open early when junior Caitlyn Brisker (Oak Hill, OH) led off the game with a home run and senior Christen Risner (Wheelersburg, OH) added a three-run shot of her own.
The RedStorm led 6-0 entering the home half of the fifth before TMU scored three times to cut the deficit in half, but Rio got one of the markers back in the sixth to push its advantage back to 7-3.
The Saints got a two-out, two-run home run by Maclai Branson in the bottom of the seventh to set the final score.
Risner finished 3-for-3 with four RBI, while sophomore Peyton Young (Mt. Orab, OH) was 2-for-4 with a run batted in and the freshman duo of Lexi Thompson (Shelby, OH) and Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) also finished 2-for-4 each.
Freshman Madison Perry (Portsmouth, OH) added a double and an RBI to the winning effort.
Junior Kali Brickman (Huber Heights, OH) won for the 10th time in 14 decisions, allowing seven hits, two walks and three runs over 6-plus innings.
Annika Gels started and lost for TMU, surrending five hits and four runs over two innings.
Branson added a double to go along with her late longball and drove in three runs, while Hailey McAdoo and Sydney Bledsoe also had two hits each in the loss.
Josei Wefer added a double and two RBI for the Saints.
Game two also saw the hosts make things interesting by scoring all of their runs on back-to-back, two-out home runs.
However, Rio Grande had already built a 5-0 lead before the Saints' rally and managed to hang on.
Brisker led the RedStorm at the plate with three hits, while Young doubled and drove in a pair of runs.
Sophomore Hannah Beers (Springfield, OH) started and went the distance in the pitcher's circle to get the win, scattering seven hits and four walks.
Karys Black started and took the loss for the Saints, allowing five hits and four runs - three earned - over four innings.
McAdoo and Sophia Thoma had two hits each for the hosts, while Black hit a two-run home run and Delaney Kemper followed with a solo shot.
Rio Grande is slated to return to action on Saturday when it hosts Midway University in a River States Conference twin bill.
Game one is set for 1 p.m. first pitch.
