No. 8 Knights rally past upset-minded RedStorm

Rio Grande Sports Information
     INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The University of Rio Grande's surge of mid-game momentum - and eventually its hopes of pulling an upset - both were washed away by a day-long dose of persistent precipitation.
     The RedStorm saw a commanding lead all but disappear just before enduring a long weather delay, then watched what was left of their advantage fizzle in the drizzle as Marian University rallied for a 6-5 win in winner's bracket play at the Indianapolis Bracket of the NAIA Softball Championship Opening Round, Tuesday afternoon, at the Marian Softball Diamond.
     Rio Grande, the No. 5 seed in the five-team, double-elimination bracket, slipped to 35-18 with the loss and will face the survivor of an elimination contest between No. 3 seed Middle Georgia State and fourth-seeded Aquinas (Mich.) College on Wednesday at 3 p.m.
     The Middle Georgia-Aquinas game was supposed to have followed the Rio-Marian tilt, but was postponed altogether by rain.
     Middle Georgia and Aquinas will now play Wednesday at 10 a.m., with the winner meeting Rio Grande in another elimination contest.
     Marian, which is ranked No. 8 nationally and seeded first in the bracket, improved to 45-10 with the victory.
     The host Knights will face No. 2 seed - and defending national champion - Southern Oregon University in the winner's bracket final on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. The winner of that game will move into Thursday's championship and would have to be beaten twice.
     The Marian-SOU loser will play the winner of Wednesday's 3 p.m. game on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. in the loser's bracket final.
     Marian's star against Rio Grande was its leadoff batter, freshman Savannah Harweger, who entered the tournament with a sizzling .498 batting average.
     Harweger finished 3-for-4, including a home run and a triple, and drove in four runs - two in the Knights' three-run fourth inning rally, as well as the tying and go-ahead markers in the home half of the sixth.
     Rio Grande grabbed a 1-0 lead in the first inning when senior Caitlyn Brisker (Oak Hill, OH) led off with a walk, stole second and rode home on a two-out single by junior Peyton Young (Mt. Orab, OH).
     The Knights tied the game with an unearned run in the home half of the frame when Harweger led off with a bunt single, stole second with two outs and scored when Sierra Norman's apparent inning-ending routine popup to second base was dropped for an error.
     Rio regained the advantage in the third when Brisker led off with a double, moved to third on a one-out single by junior Maddie Ogden (Williamsburg, OH) and scored on a two-out single along the left field line by sophomore Gabby Adams (Grove City, OH) to make it 2-1.
     The RedStorm's lead ballooned to 5-1 in the fourth inning when junior Boo Sturgill (Wheelersburg, OH) walked, sophomore Natalie Bates (Vandalia, OH) reached on a bunt single and junior Megan Bazler (Portsmouth, OH) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with no outs.
     Brisker plated Sturgill with a single to center and, after sophomore Kayla Sedgwick (Richwood, OH) forced Bates at the plate on a fielder's choice bloop to center, Ogden singled to right to score two more runs and force the end of the day for Marian pitching ace Olivia Stunkel, who entered play with a 26-2 record.
     The rain - and the Knights' comeback effort - began in earnest in the bottom of the inning.
     Abbey Hoffman drew a one-out walk from Ogden and stole second as Caroline Roop struck out for the second out of the inning. But Haley Greene followed with a run-scoring hit to center, Anna Pritchett then drew another walk and Harweger cleared the bases with a triple to right which pulled the hosts within 5-4.
     Brooke Knox reached on the third walk of the frame and promtply stole second to put the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position before Abby Madere popped out to end the rally.
     A rain delay lasting just over 3-1/2 hours followed and, once play resumed, so did Marian's rally.
     The Knights failed to score after putting two on with one out in the fifth, but their sixth inning attempt proved successful.
     Pritchett led off with a walk and Harweger followed with a two-run homer just to the left of straightaway center field - her fourth long ball of the year - to put MU in front 6-5.
     Rio Grande put the would-be tying run on with one out in the seventh when Adams reached on an error, but Marian reliever Macy Coan retired each of the next two batters on routine popups to nail down the win.
     Hoffman added two hits in the winning effort for Marian.
     Coan allowed just one hit over 3-2/3 scoreless innings of relief for her 11th win in 15 decisions.
     Stunkel, the Knights' starter, surrendered seven hits, three walks and five runs over 3-1/3 innings.
     Ogden went the distance and took the loss for Rio, allowing seven hits and six walks while striking out seven.
     Offensively, Ogden was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Brisker was 2-for-3 with a run batted in for the RedStorm.