RIO GRANDE, Ohio – The IU Southeast softball team fought but ultimately fell to (RV) Rio Grande in a doubleheader on Sunday.
 
Rio Grande scored first in game one, taking a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second. Another run in the bottom of the fourth put the RedStorm ahead 2-0.
 
IU Southeast scored a run in the top of the seventh on a Savannah Gaither RBI single, but Rio Grande got the final out to secure the 2-1 win.
 
Savannah Gaither drove in the only run for IU Southeast. Kaitlyn Leister doubled, the only Grenadier extra base hit.
 
Hannah Nunemaker took the loss, allowing two runs in six innings while striking out six.
 
Game two remained scoreless until the fourth when Rio Grande scored a pair of runs to take a 2-0 lead.
 
The score remained 2-0 until the seventh. With two runners on and one out, Brynlea Bennett delivered a two-RBI triple to tie the game at 2-2.
 
Another Brynlea Bennett triple followed by an RBI single by Lillian Mackey gave IU Southeast a 3-2 lead in the ninth.
 
With two outs in the ninth, Rio Grande scored two runs to defeat IU Southeast 4-3.
 
Brynlea Bennett, Sofia Guy, and McKenzie Walters each had two hits. Bennett had two triples, and Guy had the lone stolen base for the Grenadiers.
 
Emma Davis took the loss, allowing four runs in 8.2 innings.
 
"Two hard fought games," IU Southeast interim head coach Erin Templeman said. "Both came down to the wire. They just had a few more hits than we did. Emma and Hannah both threw great."
 
IU Southeast falls to 20-14 overall and 16-10 in RSC play. The Grenadiers host Oakland City for a doubleheader on Tuesday.