ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – After the 5-3 victory that the Tritons achieved last night over the Florida Tech, Eckerd came out to split their series finale double-header with the Panthers, taking game one 6-3, and falling 1-3 in the second game. The Tritons are now 14-27-1 overall and 4-11 in the Sunshine State Conference.
Eckerd took advantage of errors that were made by the Panther defense to score two runs in the first inning. The first run came off of Alex Sasso's base hit up the middle that plated Emma Docking. Shortly after, Mackenzie Dawson's grounder to second base plated Meagan Camp to make it a 2-0 Eckerd lead.
Neither team scored until the sixth inning, as Florida Tech took a 3-2 lead on a two-run double to left field and a single to the short stop. Eckerd quickly answered back, taking the lead back in the bottom of the sixth inning. Camp brought home Tatyanna Henderson to bring it to a tied game. Kristen Schurr continued to add on to her runs batted in total, connecting with a double to left-center that brought in two runs. Sasso had her second RBI hit of the day, placing a base hit up the middle to score Schurr to make the score 6-3 Triton lead.
In the seventh inning, Florida Tech put pressure on the bases, having runners on second and first after back-to-back base hits with only one out. Starting pitching Dawson was able to strike out the next Panther batter, and then made the following batter pop up to left field, giving the Tritons the game one victory.
Dawson pitched seven complete innings, giving up nine hits, three runs, one walk and struck out three batters. She now has seven wins and 13 losses. Sarah Agnew, Docking, and Sasso picked up two hits a piece.
Game two was a different story for the Tritons, as Florida Tech took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning. Eckerd answered back with a run of their own in the second inning as Emily Wiemken singled in Sasso to tie the game up. It wasn't until the fifth inning that the Panthers scored two more runs to make it a 3-1 game. The Tritons were able to put runners on the bases in the following innings, but were unable to score, giving the Panthers the game two win.
Sasso led the way for the Tritons at the plate, going 5-for-7 with a double, one run, and two runs batted in. She ended up suffering the loss in game two, pitching five innings and giving up six hits, three runs, and one walk. Dawson came in for the remaining two innings not giving up any hits or walks and struck out two batters.
The Tritons will be on the road on April 16th as they travel over to take on Rollins College for a Sunshine State Conference series. The Tars are currently ranked No. 10 in the nation.
