Tritons Hold Off Florida Tech to Win Series Opener

Box Score MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Eckerd softball team built a six-run lead in its series opener against Florida Tech on Thursday. As it turned out, the Tritons needed every run.

Eckerd held off a late-inning rally by FIT to open a three-game Sunshine State Conference series with a 9-8 win, the third straight series in which the Tritons have scored a victory in the first game.

A four-run third inning gave Eckerd (17-27, 6-13 SSC) an early lead after scoring all four runs with two outs.  After Kaleigh Floyd led off the inning with a single and eventually moved to third, Chelsea Armstrong brought her home with a single on a full count.  Nikole Van Gennep followed with a single, setting the stage for Carrie Shere to pound a pitch over the center field wall for a three-run home run, her fifth of the season.

The Panthers (23-23, 8-11 SSC) answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth, but Eckerd appeared to have blown the game open a half-inning later.

Crystal Garcia singled to lead off the inning and Rachael Luckett brought her in with her second home run of the season, a shot that cleared the wall in left-center.

Kiley King added an RBI single and Floyd delivered what turned out to be an important hit in the form of a two-out, two-run single to cap the inning.

Florida Tech made things quite interesting by coming up with its own five-run inning in the sixth.  The Panthers chased Van Gennep from the circle after six consecutive batters reached base to open the inning, cutting the Eckerd lead to two runs.  Janna Gaburo entered in relief and, after allowing a single that made the score 9-8, retired the next three batters to strand the tying and go-ahead runs on base.

Gaburo again had to work out of a jam in the seventh after allowing a single between two walks, loading the bases with one out.  However, she coaxed a pop up from Sarah Hayes and then closed the game with a groundout, leaving the bases loaded.

Van Gennep (12-16) picked up the win while Gaburo earned her first save of the season.  Van Gennep also went 3-for-4 at the plate while Garcia, Armstrong and Floyd each had two hits.

The series concludes tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1:00 PM.