Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 WINTER GARDEN, Fla. - At times this season, the Eckerd softball team has displayed dominant pitching.
The duo of
Janna Gaburo and
Nikole Van Gennep certainly fit that bill on Wednesday at The Spring Games in Winter Garden as both tossed complete-game shutouts in leading the Tritons past Bentley (Mass.), 5-0, and Southern Connecticut State, 3-0.
Eckerd (15-11-1) has now posted three straight shutouts with 27 consecutive scoreless innings.
The sophomore Gaburo put together the best start of her college career with a one-hitter in the day's opener against Bentley, allowing only a seeing-eye grounder that barely eluded the diving
Kiley King in the third inning. The single represented one of just two baserunners to reach against Gaburo (6-4), the other of which reached on an error in the sixth.
Meanwhile, the Tritons did all their damage at the plate in the fifth inning. Gaburo led off with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner
Kiana Sladicki, who stole third after being moved to second on a sacrifice bunt.
Dana Paul broke up the scoreless tie with a single to center that drove in Sladicki.
Eckerd then put pressure on the Bentley defense with aggressive baserunning, swiping three more bases in the inning to move runners into scoring position.
Emily Knox also beat a throw home on a grounder to first before
Carrie Shere capped the inning with a two-run single.
The five-run inning was more than enough for Gaburo, who pitched around the error in the sixth and retired the side in the seventh for her first career shutout.
In the second game of the day, Eckerd again scored all its runs in one inning and Shere again came up with the biggest hit when her two-out, two-run triple broke a scoreless tie in the top of the seventh. She then scored from third after a wild pitch by SCSU reliever Audrey Dolloff.
Van Gennep (9-7) took care of the rest in the circle, allowing just four hits while striking out six. For the most part, the game went smoothly for the freshman, only running into trouble in the third inning after allowing back-to-back singles to start the inning. She retired the next three batters, however, to strand both runners.
The Tritons return to the field on Friday, opening a three-game series with Nova Southeastern at 7:00 PM at the Turley Athletic Complex.
