ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - The Eckerd softball team used an all-around outstanding performance with a combined 22 hits, 16 runs, and 14 stolen bases offensively and 20 strikeouts in the circle to take the doubleheader from Post (Conn.), 9-4 and 7-1, at the Turley Athletic Complex Saturday afternoon.
Eckerd plated three runs in the opening run of the first game on an RBI single by Ella Coiner and a pair of RBI doubles by Lauren Margolis and Brookly Cardona.
Post evened the score in the second with three runs on an error and a two-run double. However, Margolis quickly gave EC back the lead in the bottom of the frame with a bases-loaded double putting EC up 6-3.
Post added a run in the third, but Kinsley Castro delivered a bases-clearing pinch-hit three-run triple in the fourth to give EC a 9-4 lead. Brielle Benfield kept the Eagles' bats off-balance with 11 strikeouts.
In the finale, the Tritons took a 1-0 lead in the second with a run scoring on an error before Post evened the score in the third.
The Tritons took the lead with three runs in the fifth on a pair of RBI doubles by Brenna Lokeinsky and Coiner and a run scoring on an error. EC added three insurance runs in the sixth. Olivia Johnson shut down the Eagles with nine strikeouts.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
FINAL: Eckerd 9, Post 4
WP: Benefield (5-4) LP: Cal (0-3)
Game Two
FINAL: Eckerd 7, Post 1
WP: Johnson (6-2) LP: Riquel (0-2)
RECORDS: Eckerd 13-9; Post 0-6
NOTES AND NUMBERS
- Eckerd's pitching staff combined for 20 strikeouts on the day. Both Benefield and Johnson posted career-highs with 11 and nine, respectively.
- Eckerd combined for 22 hits on the day.
- EC was aggressive on the basepath, going a perfect 14-for-14 in stolen bases. Coiner, Lokeinsky, and Jadyn Wright had three each.
- Lokeinsky and Coiner had three hits each in the opener, while Margolis had two. Margolis also had four RBIs.
- Lokeinsky and Wright posted two hits each in the finale. They had three and two RBIs, respectively.
- Margolis drew two walks in the opener, moving her season total to 25. Five walks off her own single-season program record set last year. She has 70 for her career, ranking fourth in program history.
- Over the six-game week, Eckerd racked up 65 hits and 33 stolen bases.
UP NEXT
Eckerd returns to the Turley Athletic Complex on Tuesday for a doubleheader at 3:00 PM.