ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Eckerd's three seniors made the most of their senior day leading the Eckerd softball team to a sweep over Lynn at the Turley Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.
Meredith McGinnis put Eckerd up ahead early in the opener with a homerun in the second inning while
Nikole Van Gennep kept the Lynn bats off balance tossing her fifth shutout of the season.
In the finale, Van Gennep homered in the fifth for the tying run while
Avery Wakefield had an early RBI double and scored the winning run off
Kayelee Newstrom's sacrifice fly.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
Final: Eckerd 2, Lynn 0
WP: Van Gennep (9-16)
LP: Sheffield (8-12)
HR: McGinnis (3)
Game Two
Final: Eckerd 3, Lynn2
WP: Saltzman (2-4)
LP: Saviskas (3-6)
HR: Van Gennep (10)
Records: Eckerd 15-27 (7-17 SSC); Lynn 15-31 (5-19 SSC)
KEY MOMENTS
Game One
- Eckerd got on the board early thanks to a solo homerun by Meredith McGinnis blasted to left in the second inning.
- EC added an insurance run in the sixth inning as Kaylin Kramer scored on a Fighting Knights error. Kramer singled to center to lead off the inning and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Kassy Torres before scoring on an error on a McGinnis grounder.
- Van Gennep cruised in the circle allowing just one hit over the first six innings and retiring 12 straight batters from the second through sixth innings. She worked around runners on first and third in the seventh inning getting a groundout and fly out to end the game.
Game Two
- Eckerd loaded the bases in the opening frame after Skylar Redish was hit by a pitch and Kramer and Torres drew walks with two outs, but the Tritons were unable to push a run across.
- EC broke through in the fourth inning to take a 1-0 lead. Torres led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Pinch-runner Emily Sawin advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by McGinnis before Avery Wakefield drove her in with a double to left field.
- Lynn responded to take a 2-1 lead in the following inning on a pair of RBI singles by Grace Hastings and Kayla Sheffield.
- Van Gennep quickly evened the score with a solo homerun to right to lead off the bottom of the frame. Eckerd looked to take the lead in the inning as Redish and Kramer singled with one out but EC was unable to push another run across.
- McGinnis and Wakefield drew a pair of walks to lead off the sixth inning before Newstrom drove in Wakefield with a sacrifice fly. Newstorm sent a fly ball to the fence in centerfield where Mackenzie Wyatt made the catch. As Wyatt was slow to get up after colliding with the fence, Wakefield was able to score from second on the play.
- Lynn loaded the bases with two outs in the seventh but Madison Saltzman was able to coax a groundout to seal the win.
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Van Gennep and Wakefield led Eckerd in the opener with two hits apiece while Van Gennep also had a pair of hits in the finale.
- Van Gennep finished the series going 5-for-10. She also recorded her 10th homerun of the season needing just three more homers to tie the single season homerun record at 13. She also recorded the 37th double of her career moving into a tie for third place in career doubles.
- Van Gennep took the win in the opener tossing the 17th shutout of her career allowing just four hits while fanning four. Saltzman picked up her second win of the season in the finale allowing two runs while striking out five.
- The sweep of Lynn is the first sweep for Eckerd this season.
- Eckerd honored its three seniors (McGinnis, Wakefield, and Van Gennep) before the first game.
UP NEXT
Eckerd travels to Barry next weekend for a three games series with a single game Thursday at 6:00 PM.
