ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – In both games of Wednesday's doubleheader, Southwest Minnesota State scored in the opening inning to take an early lead. The Eckerd softball team was unable to make up the difference it the opener but rallied twice in the finale to split a pair of contests at the Turley Athletic Complex before returning to conference play.
Eckerd nearly overcame the deficit in the opener but the team's bats went quiet over the final three innings. The second game was a different story as the Tritons used a four-run second inning to erase an early three-run deficit. After the Mustangs took a 7-4 lead in the fifth, the Tritons rallied again with five runs all before recording an out in the fifth inning for the win.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
Final: Southwest Minnesota State 3, Eckerd 2
WP: Golling (3-3)
LP: Van Gennep (6-8)
HR: Van Gennep (7)
Game Two
Final: Eckerd 9, Southwest Minnesota State 7
WP: Costa (2-1)
LP: Cull (2-2)
Records: Eckerd 11-14; Southwest Minnesota State 5-7
KEY MOMENTS
Game One
- After a pair of infield singles to open the game, the Mustangs plated a run via a Bailey Johnson sacrifice fly and added another run with an RBI single.
- Nikole Van Gennep quickly closed the gap in the bottom of the inning jumping on the first pitch she saw for a solo homerun to right field.
- Eckerd threatened in the following inning after loading the bases with one out but SMSU was able to end the Triton threat with a strikeout and a groundout.
- SMSU scored an additional run in the fourth inning as Johnson came around to score on a passed ball.
- Meredith McGinnis nearly tied the game in the fourth inning with a ball that looked to clear the fence in centerfield but instead hit the bottom of the fence for an RBI double scoring Madison Saltzman.
- Mustang pitcher Athena Golling was at her best in the last three innings, retiring nine of the last 10 batters she faced.
Game Two
- SMSU again scored early with three runs in the opening frame. Eckerd got two quick outs but the Mustangs had two batters reach on singles before pushing two runs across following another single followed by an error on the play. A fourth straight single led to the final run of the inning.
- The Tritons used a four-run second inning to take a 4-3 lead. EC loaded the bases with no outs following singles from Kassy Torres and Kaylin Kramer and a walk drawn by Ally Costa. Kayelee Newstrom plated the first run with a sacrifice fly to right field. Emily Sawin drew a walk to load the bases again and Hannah Famiano cleared them with a double ripped down the left field line.
- The teams went quiet over the next three innings before combining for nine runs in the fifth. SMSU led off the fifth with two singles and brought in the first two runs of the inning with an RBI single and a fielder's choice. The Mustangs loaded the bases and plated two runs following a fielder's choice to second. Sawin made a diving play just in front of the bag at second to get the runner from first but the Mustangs were aggressive on the bases to score two runs on the play.
- Eckerd rallied for five runs before recording an out in the bottom of the frame to take a 9-7 lead. Famiano led off the inning with a triple to right center and scored on the next pitch via a single to left center by Van Gennep. Van Gennep advanced to third following a throwing error on a fielder's choice during Skylar Redish's at-bat and scored on an RBI single to right by Torres. Kramer gave EC the lead with a two-run triple to right center before Costa added an insurance run with an RBI single through the left side.
- Costa entered in relief in the fifth, helped get Eckerd out of the inning, and retired six of the last seven batters - including two strikeouts in the seventh - to pick up the win.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Saltzman led Eckerd in the opener with two hits while Kramer went a perfect 3-for-3 with two RBIs in the finale. Famiano also had two hits and three RBIs in the finale. Van Gennep collected a hit in both games to stretch her hitting streak to nine games.
- Eckerd tallied 16 hits over both games including two triples in the finale. The last time the Tritons hit two triples in a single game was April 16, 2016, at Tampa.
- Van Gennep's homerun was her seventh of the season and 12th of her career moving her into a tie for sixth in career homeruns. She had two RBIs on the night moving her career total to 74 which ties her for ninth in program history. Van Gennep also recorded the first appearance of her career in the outfield after starting the second game in right field.
- Van Gennep took the loss in the opener following two earned runs over seven innings while striking out six. Costa picked up the win in the finale allowing just one hit in relief over the last three innings.
UP NEXT
Eckerd concludes its 13 game home stretch with a three-game series with Palm Beach Atlantic this weekend with a single game Friday at 7:00 PM.
