Game 1 (Box Score)
Game 2 (Box Score)
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Freshman
Kara Oberer belted a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning to cap a wild finish walk-off style and the Eckerd College softball displayed more of the same kind of resolve with a rally in game two during a night sweep against Dominican (N.Y.) College on Tuesday.
The Tritons (12-13, 0-3 SSC) took game one, 11-10, after going into two extra innings, and the nightcap by a score of 4-3.
EC and the Chargers (2-2 overall) pounded out a combined 29 hits in the opener before engaging in a tight defensive struggle with 14 combined hits in the finale.
Oberer's growing prodigious power capped a four-run rally, including an RBI double by sophomore
Sabrina Lolo, after Dominican moved out to a 10-7 lead in the top half of the ninth.
The freshman slugger now has seven homers and 21 RBI and a total of 13 extra-base hits to complement a healthy .754 slugging percentage at the dish.
But even before, Eckerd climbed back from a four-run deficit, trailing 6-2 following a Dominican offensive eruption in the top of the fifth highlighted by a three-run shot by Kim Ragasso.
The Tritons made up the difference and then some in their next chance at the plate with a five-run fifth inning of their own.
Junior
Chelsea Jeffares drove in junior
Kaitlyn Dougherty on a grounder, Oberer got a single that brought in freshman
Kirby Parnell and freshman
Kaycie Duncan singled to load up the bases with two outs.
Brittany Mitchell added to the inning with a two-run single and three errors in the inning plagued the Chargers defensively.
Dominican knotted things up at 7-7 with the equalizer in the top of the seventh to force extra innings.
Junior
Whitney Bernier earned both wins to improve to 8-8 on the season while senior
Logan Rohrbach shut the door for a save, her first, to finish the night.
Bernier allowed just one run off of four hits in her innings on the mound as she started and re-entered in the late stages.
After facing off against the Chargers' left-handed pitcher Delaney Childers, the Tritons saw right handed-pitching from Elizabeth Hogan in the second game.
Hogan took the loss after being tagged for four runs on five hits and a walk in six innings.
After three innings of scoreless softball, the Tritons took the 1-0 lead after Duncan's RBI that scored Jeffares.
The Chargers delivered a three-run blow in the top of the fifth with a home run by Julie Plante, but EC generated three runs, including the go-ahead and eventual winning run on a sacrifice fly by Oberer.
Rohrbach went three up three down in the bottom half of the seventh with a strikeout and pair of groundouts to end it.
Eckerd will travel to Nova Southeastern University on Friday in Fort Lauderdale for a three-game conference series. The first game is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday with a doubleheader to follow on Saturday.
