Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Senior
Kristen Schurr drove in the game-winning run in the bottom of the seventh inning to conclude a wild finish between the Eckerd College softball program and Lynn University on Thursday evening, 12-11.
With just one out and runners at second and third, Schurr ripped a single to center that scored junior
Nazley Wilson and completed a remarkable rally to kick off a three-game Sunshine State Conference series at the Turley Athletic Complex.
Schurr's final blow snapped an 11-11 tie when the Fighting Knights (17-17, 3-7 SSC) were down to their final out and managed to tie things up following a pair of untimely Eckerd errors in the top half of the seventh.
The Tritons (16-23, 3-10 SSC) overcame a six-run deficit, drew 13 walks and shattered the single season record for team RBI while neutralizing a grand slam by Lynn's Bianca Savulak.
Schurr went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and two RBI, freshman shortstop
Kara Oberer launched her 11th home run of the season and freshman
Kaycie Duncan went 2-for-4 with a double and a key two-run single.
Junior
Kaitlyn Dougherty helped her cause with 4 1/3 scoreless innings of relief in the pitcher's circle to receive the win, driving in the tying run with an RBI bunt as part of a seven-run fifth frame.
After the Fighting Knights were able to score an early run in their first series of plate appearances, Oberer drilled a two-run homer after a leadoff walk drawn by junior
Chelsea Jeffares.
Oberer is now just two home runs away from tying the single-season team record set by EC Hall of Fame inductee Sherry Howell, her mark of 13 bombs in 1990 standing for over two decades in program history.
But LU's Savulak unloaded the bases in the second inning with her grand slam and the Fighting Knights added five more runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding 10-4 lead on the scoreboard.
Junior
Taylor Styke drew a bases-loaded walk to get the scoring started in the fifth inning as the Tritons began to methodically chip away at the large deficit. Duncan brought the Tritons to within 10-9 before Dougherty legged out the tying bunt single with no one covering the first base bag.
The Tritons took an 11-10 lead to ice the seven-run fifth following another clutch piece of hitting by Schurr for the go-ahead score.
As a testament to the plate discipline displayed by the Tritons, freshman
Amanda Green drew three walks while the top three hitters at the top of the order drew two free passes each against the combination of LU pitchers Kasey Murray and Missy Montgomery.
In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Fighting Knights opted to pitch around Oberer to begin the frame and Duncan made Lynn pay with a ringing double to put runners on second and third with one away.
Following a fielder's choice that erased the lead runner at the plate in a rundown, Schurr denied the Fighting Knights the chance to go into extras with the game-winning hit in the next at-bat.
The Tritons and Fighting Knights will meet again tomorrow afternoon for a doubleheader with the first pitch of game one projected to get underway at 1 p.m.
