ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd softball team earned their third conference win of the season after defeating the Florida Tech Panthers 5-3 Friday night at the Turley Athletic Complex. The Tritons improve their overall record to 13-26-1 and currently are 3-10 in the Sunshine State Conference. The Panthers drop to 18-17 overall and 5-8 in the SSC.
The Tritons put two runs on the board in the bottom of the third inning off of Kristen Schurr's two-run double to left-center that brought home Emma Docking and Sarah Agnew. After a pitching change was made for Florida Tech in the fourth inning, the Tritons were able to scratch another run across the plate with Kelly Coston scoring after Tatyanna Henderson stole second base to make it a 3-1 Eckerd lead.
The Panthers scored their first run of the game off of starting pitcher Alex Sasso in the top of the fifth due to Kara Dickinson's home run to left field. With two outs and a runner on third, Sasso was able to get her way of the jam, striking out Tyler Miller to end the inning and scoring threat.
The Tritons continued to make noise in the bottom of the fifth inning, adding two more runs to their score. After Kirsten Cox made her way to first base after a fielding error by the Panther defense, Sasso connected with her second hit of the night, hitting a double to right field that put runners on second and third. With two outs, Mackenzie Dawson belted a two-run single up the middle to give the Tritons a 5-1 advantage.
Florida Tech came into the top of the ninth inning with the meat of their line-up coming to the plate. Dickinson had a double to left field with one out in the inning. She eventually scored on Brooke Fisher's single up the middle to make it a 5-2 ball game. Danielle Healy came to the plate and hit a deep double down the left field line that brought home Fisher, bringing the score to 5-3. With two outs and a runner on second, Sasso was able to get the next batter to ground out to Agnew, who was able to throw the runner out at first to give the Tritons the victory.
The Tritons will close out the series tomorrow as they take on the Panthers in double-header action. The first game is slated to start at 1:00 pm.
