Rensberger’s 2-hitter, 3 RBIs help Rochester stay unbeaten in TRC

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Emma Mathias Aubrey Wilson

Bria Rensberger pitched a two-hitter with 15 strikeouts, and she also had two hits and three RBIs at the plate as the Rochester softball team stayed unbeaten in Three Rivers Conference play with an 8-2 win over Wabash Thursday.

Aubrey Wilson added three hits and three runs scored, and Emma Mathias, Brailyn Hunter and Gabby Medina had two hits each.

Hunter had RBI singles in the first and sixth innings, and Medina had a two-out RBI single to complete the scoring in the sixth. Nine different Rochester players had at least one hit as part of a 15-hit attack.

Rochester improved to 13-4 overall and 5-0 in the Three Rivers Conference. Wabash fell to 7-9, 2-3.

“I would definitely agree with that,” Rochester coach Jim Coleman said when asked if this was as connected as the lineup has been this season. “You know, last night, for everyone to get a hit (in a 9-2 win over Maconaquah)... coming into tonight, our goal once again was just contact. Make Wabash get us out. And going down the lineup, we did a lot of good things small ball-wise – bunting the ball, taking advantage of the right fielder a few plays. And we continued to be aggressive after the catcher gunned down Lynnie (Aubrey Miller) in that first inning. We stayed to our game plan, but it all goes back to us being more selective in the box.”

Rochester is the only undefeated team in the TRC, and Peru is the only team with one loss. Rochester’s next conference game is at Peru at 5:30 p.m. Monday. The Lady Zs host Tippecanoe Valley at 5:30 p.m. and LaVille at 7:30 p.m. today in an unusual doubleheader before their showdown with the Lady Tigers.

Wabash had the bases loaded with nobody out in the top of the first inning on two hit batters and a walk when rain forced the game to be suspended Monday.

It resumed 72 hours later, and Rensberger retired the first 16 batters she faced after the restart. Kalli Davis had a sacrifice fly to Darah Strasser in deep center in the top of the first, but Rochester took the lead for good in the bottom half.

Aubrey Miller led off with a walk, but Andi Conliff threw out Miller trying to steal. But Mathias and Wilson singled, and Rensberger roped a double to deep left-center to score Mathias and tie the game.

Wabash elected to play the infield back, and Jadyn Field’s RBI grounder to Kait Honeycutt at short put the Lady Zs ahead for good and moved courtesy runner Audrey Widman to third.

Hunter then singled to center to score Widman, and when Heinzmann dumped an RBI double to right, Hunter sped home from first to make it 4-1.

That knocked Wabash starter Pasyn Schuler out of the circle, and Davis finished with 5 ⅓ innings of relief.

“It was big,” Coleman said. “We talked about it briefly going into tonight in regards to the bases loaded, nobody out, clean-up hitter coming up. Our goal was coming out of there with two runs or less. Bria did an excellent job. Davis hit that deep fly ball that drove in one, but after that, she settled right in, and that was the only run that they got.

“And in the bottom half, we were just looking for some contact to build off last night. We came in swinging well, getting the ball dirty. With this infield, with it being so hard, you’re going to get some crazy hops, and we were fortunate to get a couple of those in that first inning.”

Rensberger’s RBI groundout to second in the second made it 5-1, and it came after Miller reached on an error, Mathias bunted for a hit and Wilson walked.

Rensberger then iced the Wabash lineup. Conliff came in hitting .457 with a team-high 17 RBIs, and while she was the only player in the Wabash lineup not to strike out, she also went 0 for 3.

Rochester stretched the lead to 6-1 in the fourth when Wilson reached on a bloop single and scored all the way from first on a Rensberger single.

“I think it was a hit-and-run anyway, so I was gone once I saw it was on the ground, and I heard Jim, and I rounded second, and he was like, ‘Go,’ so I just went,” Wilson said.

MyKenzie Renn walked with one out in the sixth, and Ella Hartley’s hot grounder ticked off a diving Heinzmann’s glove and into center for a single to break up Rensberger’s no-hit bid and move Renn to third.

Davis’ second sacrifice fly made it 6-2, and Gretta France followed with another single. A wild pitch moved runners to second and third, but Rensberger fanned Olivia Braun swinging to end the inning, and she finished with a 1-2-3 seventh.

Hunter and Medina had RBI singles in the bottom of the sixth.

Rochester has won nine of their last 10 games. The only loss in the last three weeks was a 6-3 loss to Knox May 2.

“It definitely shouldn’t have happened,” Wilson said of the Knox game. “And North Miami, we definitely shouldn't have lost some of those, but it definitely built us, and we’ve learned from it and have just tried to really expand off it. … We’re playing together. … One of the biggest things, I think, is the confidence level for almost everyone on the team has just gone up. We’re just trying to build each other up and not let each other stay down.”

Rochester 8, Wabash 2

Wabash 100 001 0 – 2 2 1

Rochester 410 102 X – 8 15 0

WP – Bria Rensberger (7 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 HBP, 15 K)

LP – Pasyn Schuler (⅔ IP, 5 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K)

2B – Bria Rensberger (RHS), Mylee Heinzmann (RHS)