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Box Score 2 LAKELAND, Fla. - The Eckerd softball team came up just short of its second consecutive 30-win season, but did close the 2016 season with a victory and the second-most wins in a season in program history.
Both of today's games at Florida Southern went into extra innings as the Mocs held on to win the opener, 6-5 in 11 innings, before Eckerd took the series with a 6-3 win in 10 innings in the finale.
The Tritons finish the year with a record of 29-24-1, the wins total only behind last year's squad (33) for the most in a season.
In the opener today, Eckerd forced extra innings with a run in the top of the seventh via a
Kiley King sacrifice fly to tie the game at 5-5.
Both teams had chances to pick up the win after the game went into the eighth inning. The Mocs had the first opportunity, stranding two in the eighth and leaving the bases loaded in the ninth as
Janna Gaburo worked out of jams in both instances.
The Tritons then had a chance in the 10th after back-to-back singles by King and
Kaycie Duncan to open the inning. King, however, was cut down at the plate while attempting to score on a grounder to second base.
FSC finally scored the winning run in the bottom of the 11th as the game ended on a bases-loaded error.
Eckerd took the lead early on a
Chelsea Armstrong sacrifice fly in the top of the first, but the Mocs plated two against
Grace Willeck in the bottom of the inning. The Tritons then tied it in the second on an RBI groundout by Duncan and took a 4-2 lead in the third after
Nikole Van Gennep tripled home Armstrong and then scored on a wild pitch.
The Mocs answered with one in the bottom of the third and took the lead with two runs in the sixth before EC tied it in the seventh.
Gaburo (9-7) took the loss in relief of Willeck despite a strong outing, allowing only one unearned run in five innings of work.
In the finale, it was Florida Southern (16-29-1, 8-15-1 SSC) who scored in the seventh to force another trip into extra frames.
Eckerd (11-13 SSC) got RBI doubles from Van Gennep in both the fourth and fifth innings, taking a 3-0 lead before FSC scored twice with two outs in the bottom of the fifth.
Mocs pitcher Brandi Jones kept the Tritons off the board in the next two innings, setting the stage for a rally in the bottom of the seventh. Maggie Roberts led off with a triple and scored on a Ashlyn Worchester single two batters later. However, Van Gennep ended the threat by forcing a double-play grounder.
Van Gennep (17-17) stepped it up from that point on, retiring the side in the next three innings while the Tritons scored three times in the top of the 10th on a trio of RBI doubles by Wolfrom, Van Gennep and Armstrong to end the season with a victory.
After setting the program record for innings pitched in a season in yesterday's game, the freshman Van Gennep tied the record for most appearances in a season (41) and set a new record for single-season ERA at 1.76. She capped her first season with her 17th win, the second-most in a season, and went 3-for-5 with four RBIs.
Rachael Luckett also set a new program record in putouts with 438, breaking a mark that had stood since 1997.
Duncan, meanwhile, leaves Eckerd as the career leader in RBIs and walks. Her 38 RBIs this year tied her own mark from 2013 for the second-most in program history. She also ranks second in career hits.
