Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 BOCA RATON, Fla. - The day began with the Eckerd softball team in a 3-0 hole.
After losing the opening game of their Sunshine State Conference series at Lynn University, 5-1, on Thursday, the second game of the day was postponed due to weather with the Tritons trailing 3-0 in the top of the second.
The new day brought about much better results as Eckerd took the series with wins of 11-7 and 6-4.
It didn't take long for the Tritons (22-12-1, 7-5 SSC) to strike as the game resumed. A pair of walks sandwiched around a
Janna Gaburo single loaded the bases, and
Chelsea Armstrong wasted no time in clearing them by launching a grand slam over the centerfield wall.
Armstrong's home run, her first of the season, signaled the beginning of an Eckerd power-hitting display.
Nikole Van Gennep connected on her second home run of the season in the third inning, a solo shot that answered a home run by Lynn's Manya Lopez and gave EC a 5-4 lead.
The Fighting Knights tied the game again in the bottom of the third on another solo shot, this one by Victoria Rios, but the Tritons got their second grand slam of the game in the fourth inning when
Kaycie Duncan sent a pitch over the right field wall.
Grace Willeck (1) and
Carrie Shere (7) also added solo home runs for Eckerd. Armstrong led EC at the plate with two hits while eight others recorded on hit each. Willeck (3-0) also notched her third straight win in the circle, working five quality innings in relief of Gaburo. She held the Knights to only two hits, both solo home runs, while striking out four.
The Tritons didn't need the long ball in the finale to finish off the double-header sweep. EC got on the board in the top of the second on an RBI single by
Kayla Saylor, then added three more in the third on another Saylor RBI hit preceded by run-scoring hits from Van Gennep and
Rachael Luckett.
An error following a single by Gaburo in the fifth allowed Van Gennep to score from second base and gave Eckerd a 5-0 lead. Lynn broke up Eckerd's shutout bid in the bottom of the inning on a two-out RBI double by Lopez, but the Tritons got the run back in the sixth when Armstrong scored on a error.
Lynn made things a bit less comfortable in the sixth inning on a three-run homerun by Leanne Wright with nobody out and later brought the go-ahead run to the plate after putting two more runners on base with one out. Gaburo, though, escaped the inning by retiring the next two batters. She then retired the side in order in the seventh to clinch the win.
Eckerd got two hits each from Shere, Luckett, Gaburo and Saylor in the finale. Van Gennep (13-8) picked up the win by tossing four shutout innings while Gaburo threw the final three innings to earn the save.
The Tritons head to Lakeland to face NAIA opponent Southeastern (Fla.) on Wednesday before hosting Barry University on April 1-2 in a Sunshine State Conference series.
