ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd softball team dropped a pair of contests to No. 18 Valdosta State on Sunday afternoon at the Turley Athletic Complex by scores of 5-3 and 10-7.
The Tritons jumped out to an early 1-0 lead over the Blazers in the first inning of the day's opening game. Eckerd eventually took a 3-1 lead into the sixth inning, but Valdosta State completed a late-inning comeback scoring twice in the sixth and seventh innings for the win.
In the back end of the doubleheader, the Blazers jumped out early scoring five runs in the first inning. Eckerd cut into the deficit on a three-run
Meredith McGinnis homer in the bottom of the frame. The Blazers plated another four runs in the next inning and added one more in the fifth for a 10-3 lead. Eckerd chipped away at the lead with two runs in both the fifth and seventh innings via two
Crystal Garcia homers, but couldn't quite close the gap in the loss.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
Final: Valdosta State 5, Eckerd 3
Records: Eckerd 3-4, Valdosta State 8-1
WP: Lamb (2-0)
LP: Van Gennep (3-3)
Game Two
Final: Valdosta State 10, Eckerd 7
Records: Eckerd 3-5, Valdosta State 9-1
WP: Strickland (2-0)
LP: Costa (0-2)
HR: McGinnis (2), Garcia 2 (3)
KEY MOMENTS
Game One
- McGinnis led off the second inning with a single up the middle on the first pitch she saw and was replaced at first by Dana Paul on a fielder's choice. Paul advanced to third after a Carrie Shere single and a fielder's choice. Chelsea Armstrong then ripped a two-out single to third base driving in Paul for the first run.
- The Blazers evened the score in the next inning after a Danielle Patterson tripled and was brought in on a groundout.
- Nikole Van Gennep dominated in the circle the next two innings throwing only six pitches in the fourth inning and four pitches in the fifth inning to limit the Blazers' bats.
- Eckerd regained the lead in the fourth inning scoring in almost the same fashion as in the first inning. McGinnis led off the inning with a single up the middle and again was replaced by Paul on a fielder's choice, where she advanced to third on another Shere single. Armstrong then delivered another two-out RBI single, this time to left-center.
- Eckerd tacked on another run in the fifth on a Kaylin Kramer single down the right field line driving in Van Gennep who doubled the at-bat before.
- The Blazers evened the score in the sixth inning at 3-3 on a Cassey Cornelius homer with two outs. Eckerd looked to take the lead again in the bottom of the inning after loading the bases with no outs but the Blazers were able to coax a double play and a groundout to end the Triton threat.
- Valdosta State took the lead in the seventh after a two-run double by Jessica Mohl. Looking for a walk-off win, Eckerd got two runners aboard on a single and a hit-by-pitch but were unable to push the winning run across.
Game Two
- The Blazers took an early lead scoring five runs (all unearned) in the opening inning. VSU got two runners on to begin the inning and both runs scored on a dropped pop up on the infield. After a walk put two on for the Blazers, a three-run home run by Brandy Morgan gave VSU a 5-0 lead.
- Eckerd cut into the deficit as McGinnis blasted a three-run homer to centerfield, driving in Crystal Garcia who led off the inning with a walk and Van Gennep who got on with a single.
- After two singles and a walk in the top of the second inning, VSU's Logan Hill hit a grand slam giving the Blazers a 9-3 lead. The Blazers added another run in the fifth inning, scoring on a Triton throwing error to take a 10-3 lead.
- The Tritons slowly chipped away at VSU's lead as Garcia hit a pair of two-run home runs. The first home run came in the fifth inning as Garcia smoked a ball over the centerfield fence bringing in Kaleigh Floyd who led off the inning with a walk. Garcia then ripped another two-run homer in the seventh inning scoring Floyd again, running for Madison Saltzman who drew a pinch-hit walk to lead off the frame. Eckerd, however, was unable to finish making up the difference in the score falling 10-7.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Eckerd collected 11 hits in the opening game with Armstrong leading the way going 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Van Gennep, Kramer, Shere, and McGinnis each had two hits apiece as well. Garcia led Eckerd in the second game with two hits (both home runs) and four RBIs while McGinnis had three RBIs.
- Grace Willeck relieved Ally Costa in the second game putting together 5.2 innings of solid work allowing only one run and four hits.
- The three Triton home runs in the second game were the first game since April 13th, 2017, that the Tritons had a multi-home run performance.
- Garcia smacked her second and third home runs of the season in the second game becoming the first player since 2015 to have a multi-home run game. The last multi-homer game was by Erin Dixon on March 4th, 2015, against Warner (Fla.) University.
UP NEXT
Eckerd will have the week off before returning to action on Friday at 6:00 PM to start conference play hosting Embry-Riddle for a three-game series.
