ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The Eckerd softball team dropped their double-header Sunshine State Conference finale to Nova Southeastern on Friday afternoon at the Turley Athletic Complex on the campus of Eckerd College. The Sharks were able to defeat the Tritons 6-4 in the first game of the double-header, then out scored Eckerd 12-1 in the second game in five innings.
The Sharks (33-12, 11-4) jumped on the board first as Lauren Lopez hit a two out homer down the left field line against Eckerd’s starting pitcher Mackenzie Dawson. The Tritons (10-26-1) answered back during their at-bats when Kirsten Cox had the Eckerd’s first hit of the series that brought home Emma Docking to make it a 1-1 game. The game remained tied until the top of the fourth inning when Nova Southeastern tagged on three more runs to give them the 4-1 advantage. The Sharks attacked again the next inning, scoring two runs, which were brought in from a bases-loaded walk and a fielding error made by the Tritons defense. Eckerd retaliated back, scoring three runs on wild pitches made by the Sharks pitching with no outs on the board. The Sharks were able to get out of the jam, doubling up the Triton base runners for two outs and striking out the next batter to end the inning. Eckerd continued to put runners on the bases through out the last two innings, but were unable to plate runners, giving the Sharks the 6-4 victory.
Nova Southeastern carried their momentum with them into the second game, scoring nine runs in the first four innings of the game. The Sharks were able to tag on three more runs in the fifth inning, bringing their total to 12 runs. Kristen Schurr connected with her fifth homer of the season in the bottom of the fifth inning to give the Tritons their only run of the game. Cox picked up two hits for Eckerd in the second game.
The Tritons will return to action on Monday, April 5th, as they travel over to Fort Myers, Florida to take on Ave Maria University in double-header action. The first game is set to start at 2:00 pm.