Tritons Split Twinbill with Flagler

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - It took a few innings for Eckerd softball team's bats to wake up, but when they did there was no slowing them down.

The Tritons (7-6) salvaged a split in a doubleheader with Flagler (Fla.) College on Wednesday night, scoring all of their runs after the fourth inning in an 8-3 nightcap win.

Flagler (6-6) took the opener, 4-0, behind a two-hitter from Ally Marcano.  Katelynn Smith looked to be on her way to duplicating Marcano's effort in game two, giving up just two hits through the first four innings.

That changed in the fifth inning for the Tritons.  Meredith McGinnis led off the inning with a walk, and pinch runner Kayelee Newstrom came around to score on a grounder by Kaleigh Floyd to break a scoreless tie.  After a single by Crystal Garcia moved Floyd to second, Rachael Luckett ripped a ball into right field to send Floyd home.

Chelsea Armstrong's sacrifice fly brought in another run, and Dana Paul and Emily Knox followed with run-scoring hits to make it a 5-0 lead for Eckerd.

The Saints broke up Janna Gaburo's no-hit bid in the sixth on a two-out single by Maddy Murphy that drove in FC's first run, followed by an RBI triple by Natalie Murphy who also scored after a Triton error.

Eckerd matched those three runs in the bottom of the inning after a hit and two walks loaded the bases and a pair of Flagler errors allowed all three runners to score.

Gaburo (1-0) then retired the side in order in the seventh to earn her first win of the season while allowing only two hits in the game.

Things didn't go quite as well in the opener, which was delayed by nearly two hours due to weather.  The Saints scored in the top of the first and could have done further damage, but Nikole Van Gennep left the bases loaded.

The Saints added a run in the fourth and two in the sixth while tallying 14 hits in the game.

Eckerd, meanwhile, had trouble figuring out Marcano.  Garcia led off the bottom of the first with a single but the Tritons only managed one more hit for the rest of the game, a single by Dana Paul to lead off the fourth.

Van Gennep (4-5) took the loss but stranded 13 runners on base.

The Tritons open Sunshine State Conference play this weekend hosting Florida Southern in a three-game series.  Due to the potential of rain on Saturday, the weekend's schedule may be altered.