Robert Morris Advances to Horizon League Softball Championship Game After Win Over PFW

After Robert Morris outlasted Green Bay in extra innings in Thursday’s opening-round game of the Horizon League Softball Championships, the No. 2-seeded Colonials easily handled No. 4-seed Purdue Fort Wayne by the score of 10-2 on Friday to advance to the championship game of the tournament.

With the tournament being double-elimination, the Mastodons played top-seeded Cleveland State following its loss to the Colonials on Friday and beat the Vikings for a second time in the tournament which sets up a rematch between the Colonials and Mastodons in Saturday’s championship round.

WE’RE HEADED TO THE #HLSB CHAMPIONSHIP GAME😎 pic.twitter.com/eqiySILp8d

— RMU Softball (@RMUSoftball) May 9, 2025

Unlike Thursday’s pitchers duel that was decided in extra innings, Friday’s game against Purdue Fort Wayne went much smoother for Robert Morris as it cruised to a run-rule victory after just five innings.

The Mastodons started the scoring on Friday and jumped out to a 1-0 lead after the top half of the first inning after Addison Zimpleman reached first on a fielders choice which helped score Bailey Manos.

The Colonials answered in a big way in the bottom half of the inning as they not only erased the one-run deficit, they jumped out to a sizable lead after the first. The Colonials managed to tag Mastodons’ pitcher Alanah Jones for five runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Robert Morris initially got on the board after Alaina Koutsogiani singled in a pair of runs which gave the Colonials a 2-1 lead. Jess Matheny followed that up with a RBI-single of her own which scored Mary Brant. Then, Sequoia Dunlap scored Koutsogiani on a sac-fly which ended the Colonials’ first-inning explosion.

The Mastodons got a run back in the top of the third inning on an RNI-triple from Grace Hollopeter but that ended up being the last run to score for Purdue Fort Wayne as the Colonials scored three more runs in the bottom of the third and another two in the bottom of the fourth which put them up 10-2 after just four innings. The game ended after the fifth inning due to the run rule.

The win over the Mastodons gave the Colonials a cushion in the tournament. Since it is double-elimination and the Colonials have yet to lose, the Mastodons need to win two games against the Colonials on Saturday compared to the Colonials needing to win just one to claim the Horizon League Championship.

The first, and final game of the tournament, is scheduled for noon but if Purdue Fort Wayne forces a deciding second game, it will start at approximately 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.