EC vs. Florida Southern College (Game 1)
EC vs. Florida Southern College (Game 2)
LAKELAND, Fla. - Sophomore pitcher
Whitney Bernier went seven strong innings and allowed only six hits Saturday afternoon to lead the Tritons to a 3-2 win over Florida Southern College as part of their Sunshine State Conference opener.
Florida Southern captured game one by a score of 7-0.
Dating back to her last start against Webber International University, Bernier has logged a stellar 1.00 ERA over her last two complete-game outings. The Tritons (8-19, 1-1 SSC) and Mocs (18-4, 3-2 SSC) were completing the regularly-scheduled doubleheader as Friday's single game was rained out.
The teams are slated to complete the three-game series tomorrow at noon.
Speedy junior Julie Bierchen went 3-for-4 and scored two runs to pace the Tritons offensively in the winning cause. Bierchen scored the first run of the game in the top of the first inning as senior
Kristen Schurr singled to third base.
Bierchen came up big again in the top of the second inning, as she doubled down the left field line to keep the frame alive. Freshman Brittany Mitchell then blasted a timely RBI triple to right field to bring in Bierchen and extend Eckerd's lead to two.
Senior
Alex Sasso opened up the third inning with a double to left center to put runners in scoring position for the third straight inning. With one out, Sasso advanced to third base on a passed ball, then scored on a wild pitch to extend the lead over Florida Southern by three runs.
Bernier ran into some trouble in the bottom of the fifth as the Mocs would score two runs off of two hits and one error. However the Northfield, N.H., native buckled down to yield only one hit in the final two innings to close out the win.
Florida Southern's senior Christine Clarke pitched a two-hit, complete-game shutout and struck out sixteen en route to the Mocs' win in the opener. Schurr and junior
Sarah Agnew each recorded a hit for the Eckerd offense.
The Florida Southern bats came alive early as they scored five runs off of eight hits in the first two innings. Eckerd sophomore pitcher
Kaitlyn Dougherty lasted two frames before head coach
Josh Beauregard called in senior
Alex Sasso for relief.
Eckerd College will return home to play host to Concordia (Neb.) University this Wednesday, March 14, at 4 p.m. for a doubleheader. Live audio/video and stats will be available on
www.eckerdtritons.com.
