Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 TAMPA, Fla. - The Eckerd softball team built a big lead in the final game of a weekend series, then held off a late rally by the University of Tampa to split Saturday's double-header with a 7-6 win.
The Spartans got a walk-off single by Laurie Kostecka with two outs in the ninth to edge Eckerd for a 4-3 extra-innings win to start the day. However, the Tritons built a 7-2 lead in the final game which proved to be just enough of a cushion to weather Tampa's rally in the fifth and sixth innings.
Eckerd (25-20-1, 9-12 SSC) wasted no time in the back end of today's twinbill, scoring three runs in the top of the first on a two-run triple by
Carrie Shere followed by an RBI double from
Chelsea Armstrong. The Spartans scored one in the bottom of the inning, but the Tritons answered with three more runs in the fourth, capped by a two-out, two-run single by
Rachael Luckett.
Janna Gaburo led off the fifth inning with a triple and came home on a sacrifice fly by
Nikole Van Gennep for a run that later proved to be vital.
The Spartans caught fire in the fifth inning, getting four straight hits off of Gaburo to make it a 7-4 game before Van Gennep entered in relief. UT pushed across one more run before Eckerd got out of the inning, then strung together three more consecutive hits in the sixth to get within one. The damage could have been worse as Tampa had the bases loaded in the inning, but Van Gennep got Alyssa Colletti to ground out to second to escape the jam.
The seventh inning was much less eventful, as Van Gennep only allowed a one-out single but stranded the runner at second base.
In the opening game, it was Eckerd which put together a late-inning rally, fighting back from a 3-0 deficit to tie things up thanks to an RBI single by
Kaycie Duncan followed by a Spartan error that allowed two more runs to score.
Neither team scored in the seventh, sending the game into extra innings where Tampa came through in the ninth.
Van Gennep (14-15) took the loss in the opener, allowing four runs - two earned - on six hits while striking out three. Gaburo (8-5) earned the win in the final game while Van Gennep secured her fourth save of the season.
Dana Paul led EC at the plate in the second game, going 2-for-3, while six other Tritons had one hit apiece.
Eckerd returns to action on Wednesday at the Turley Athletic Complex, hosting Warner (Fla.) University at 5:00 PM for a double-header.
