Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Stranded baserunners came back to haunt the Eckerd softball team on Tuesday night as the Tritons lost a pair of tight games to Ferris State (Mich.), 5-3 and 5-4.
Eckerd (12-9-1) left 22 runners on base in the double-header, including the tying run at third in the second game.
In the opener, EC took a lead in the second inning when
Nikole Van Gennep led off with a solo home run to right field, the first of her career. The Tritons put two more runners on with one out, but had the lead runner at second erased after being called for interference on a grounder in the infield.
The Bulldogs (12-4) found their timing against Van Gennep in the circle, plating four runs in the top of the third on four hits, with two of those runs coming with two outs. Eckerd got a run back in the bottom of the inning after three straight singles to open the frame loaded the bases, and
Chelsea Armstrong drove
Kiley King home with EC's fourth single of the inning. The Tritons, though, missed another opportunity by leaving the bases loaded.
Three consecutive singles to open the fifth inning for Ferris State made it 5-2 before
Janna Gaburo, who entered in relief of Van Gennep in the fourth, escaped the jam.
Eckerd threatened in the fifth inning as Armstrong delivered her second RBI single and the Tritons again loaded the bases with one out. However, FSU's Megan Jean got a pair of ground balls to leave the bases full of Tritons one more time.
Gaburo held the Bulldogs scoreless the rest of the way but EC was unable to push another run across the plate despite putting two on in the sixth with one out.
In the nightcap, Ferris State jumped ahead early with two runs in the top of the first. Eckerd narrowed the gap with a run in the second and answered the Bulldogs' run in the third with a
Kaleigh Floyd infield single to score Gaburo in the fourth.
FSU's Emily Reed increased her team's lead with a two-run homerun in the fifth to 5-2. The Tritons again answered with a Gaburo RBI single in the fifth and a
Kaycie Duncan RBI single in the sixth.
After Van Gennep shut the Bulldogs down in the last two innings, she led off the bottom of the seventh with a double ripped into left-center.
Emily Knox pinch-ran and advanced to third on a Gaburo sacrifice bunt. However, Jean entered in relief for FSU and got the final two outs to close the night.
Armstrong and Van Gennep both had two hits in the opener while Armstrong drove in two. Six different players had one hit apiece for EC in the second game.
Van Gennep (7-6) took the loss in both games, although she allowed only one earned run and struck out six in five innings in the nightcap.
The Tritons return to action on Friday when they will visit Rollins College for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 7:00 PM.
