INDIANA, Pa. - Sophomore Haleigh Zimmerman totaled five base hits and freshman Bella Bucy tossed a complete game win in her collegiate debut as IUP softball opened the 2021 season with a pair of victories over Slippery Rock Friday afternoon at Podbielski Field. The Crimson Hawks rallied from a big deficit in game one to post a 10-7 victory, and finished off the day with a 10-3 victory in game two. 

Those were just two examples of several standout individual performances which led to team success on a blustery opening day at IUP's South Campus. 

Standout performances
Soph. Haleigh Zimmerman: 5-10, double, two runs, two RBI, stolen base
Soph. Ashley Renzi: 3-6, double, triple, four runs, two RBI
Soph. Hope Jones: 3-7, double, two runs, two RBI, stolen base
Sr. Sara Hull: two doubles, five runs, three RBI
Sr. Kaitlyn Beers: HR, two RBI
Fr. Amanda Fischer: W (1-0), 4.2 IP, 7 K, 0 ER
Fr. Bella Bucy: W (1-0), 6.0 IP, 3 K, 3 ER

Game one
The Crimson Hawks found themselves down early with Slippery Rock putting three runs on the board in the first and three more in the third. 

IUP's rally began in the fourth, starting with an RBI single by senior Jenna Rhue. Hope Jones also knocked in a run while Hull and Zimmerman followed with RBI doubles to make it a 6-5 game. Another Hull RBI double in the fifth gave IUP the lead with Renzi and sophomore Margret Russo bringing in two more runs to make it a 9-6 lead. 

Fischer, who had entered the circle in the fourth, kept Slippery Rock off the board for most of her afternoon. including two strikeouts in the fifth and sixth innings. SRU scored once in the fifth and IUP added an insurance run in the top of the seventh to wrap up the comeback win. 

Game two
The Hawks dominated most of the nightcap, opening with a two-run blast by Beers in the first. SRU did get three runs off Bucy in the early going, but she quickly settled down and was lights out the rest of the way, giving up just two hits over her final four innings of work. 

IUP had a huge fourth with five runs on six hits, including RBI doubles by Renzi and Hope Jones to take a 7-3 lead. IUP added two more runs before the game was called in the seventh due to darkness.

Another change in the series
The remainder of the series, originally scheduled for Saturday at Podbielski Field, have been moved to Tuesday. First pitch of the doubleheader is 1 p.m. 

This is the second change in the series. Today's doubleheader was originally scheduled to be played at Slippery Rock.

Follow
For coverage of the IUP softball program, follow the Crimson Hawks on Twitter and Instagram @IUPsoftball and online at IUPAthletics.com.