Lynn Sweeps Saturday Twinbill From Tritons

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd softball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader to Lynn University on Saturday as the Fighting Knights took the series with wins of 4-1 and 7-2 at the Turley Athletic Complex.

One day after being on the wrong end of a no-hitter, Lynn (22-14, 9-6 SSC) jumped ahead early in the Saturday opener with two runs on two hits in the first inning.

In the third, the Knights strung together three straight singles with two outs to bring home another run, then made it 4-0 on a single by Leanne Wright that scored Karolina Flores from second.

Meanwhile, the Tritons (14-26, 3-12 SSC) had issues creating chances against Kayla Sheffield.  Sheffield retired the first eight batters of the game before Amber Schaad singled in the third.

Carrie Shere and Kiley King both reached on base hits in the fifth to put runners on first and second with one out, but Sheffield worked out of the jam without allowing a run.

Eckerd finally broke up Sheffield's shutout bid in the seventh on an RBI single by Schaad but stranded two runners as Lynn finished the win in the opener.

Madison Saltzman (0-1) took the loss in her first start of the season, allowing three runs in three innings of work.

In the finale, Lynn blew a tight game open with a five-run sixth.  

All five runs came with two outs in the inning, giving the Knights a 7-1 lead.  Five straight batters reached base with three consecutive run-scoring hits before Nikole Van Gennep recorded the final out of the inning.

After Van Gennep retired the side in the first, Victoria Rios hit a solo home run to lead off the second, Lynn's first hit against Van Gennep in the series.  The Knights added another run in the fourth when Flores led off the frame with a triple to right field and scored on an errant throw.

Kaylin Kramer delivered a two-out RBI single to bring in Rachael Luckett in the bottom of the inning for Eckerd's first run of the game.  Neither team scored in the fifth before Lynn took firm control in the sixth.

The Tritons made things interesting in the bottom of the seventh when Carrie Shere drew a leadoff walk and scored after two Lynn errors.  The Knights turned back to starting pitcher Francais Olexa, who retired the next three batters and left the bases loaded.

Van Gennep (9-15) was tagged with the loss in the finale.  Olexa recovered from allowing a walk-off home run last night to hold the Tritons to just two hits while fanning seven.

Eckerd travels to Barry University next weekend for a three-game Sunshine State Conference series.