DADE CITY, Fla. - The Eckerd softball team took the opener, 4-1, limiting the Lions to just three hits before falling in an extra-innings thriller, 5-4, to No. 14 Saint Leo on the road Saturday afternoon.
Eckerd jumped out to an early lead with a pair of runs in the first frame on an Ella Coiner RBI single and run scoring on an error. The Lions added a run in the third on an RBI single. The Tritons plated another run in the fifth and sixth innings on a pair of RBI singles by Addisan Langston and Lex Difato. Brandily Reymer kept the SLU bats at bay, limiting them to just three hits in the game.
Eckerd struck again early in game two with a Coiner RBI double in the first inning. The Tritons made it a 2-0 tilt in the third as Hannah Taylor scored on an error. Saint Leo evened the score in the sixth with a pair of runs. The two teams went quiet over the next few innings, forcing extra frames. Taylor delivered a two-run homer in the 10th for a 4-2 lead. However, the Lions evened the score in the bottom of the frame.
EC's defense escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 11th. Eckerd got its first two runners aboard in the 13th but could not push them across. Saint Leo led off the bottom of the inning with a pair of singles and plated the winning run on an error.
HOW IT ENDED
Game One
FINAL: Eckerd 4, No. 14 Saint Leo 1
WP: Reymer (15-11) LP: C. Hocquard (10-1)
Game Two
FINAL: No. 14 Saint Leo 5, Eckerd 4 (13 Innings)
WP: T. Hocquard (14-5): LP: Founds (4-5) HR: Taylor (13)
RECORDS: Eckerd 30-20 (16-14); No. 14 Saint Leo 38-12 (21-9)
NOTED AND NUMBERS
- Addisan Langston reached the 100 career hit milestone with a pair of hits in the opener.
- With her 13th homerun of the season in the 10th inning of the finale, Hannah Taylor ties the single season homerun record with Sherry Howell (1990) and Kara Oberer (2015).
- Brandilyn Reymer earned the win in game one with five strikeouts, limiting the Lions to just three hits and one run (unearned). Her 15 wins on the season tie for third in single-season records.
- Reymer finished the series with a 0.46 ERA, allowing just two runs (one earned), scattering seven hits with 13 strikeouts over 15 innings.
- Difato added four hits, one run, one RBI, and five stolen bases on the day.
- Coiner posted three hits on the day.
- Difato's five stolen bases move her to 42 on the season, ranking second in single-season program history, just six off tying the record.
