WINTER PARK, Fla. (Softball) - Florida Tech (19-17) wrapped up the weekend in outstanding fashion, as the Panthers swept the Tars on Saturday afternoon. FIT has now enlarged its conference record to 4-5 on the year.
The Crimson and Gray wasted little time in setting the tone and putting the games away early, by scoring two in the first during Game 1 and five in the second offensive half in Game 2.
The Panthers closed the doubleheader recording 17 hits, eight runs, two doubles, one triple and one home run.
Alexus Smith was the author of the two RBI
dinger, this marked her fifth personal home run for the 2017 season. After the weekend, the sophomore increased her slugging percentage to an explosive .612. Senior
Hailey Leonard owns the triple that was shot in Game 2, representing her third of the season. Leonard currently holds an impressive batting percentage of .304, accompanied by a .520 slugging percentage..
In the circle,
Rachel Pence (12-10) and Amanda Khan (6-4) combined to lead the Crimson and Gray to impose themselves upon the Tars. The senior obtained her twelfth seasonal win in Game 2, as she struck-out three in five innings pitched. The West Coast pitcher earned her win in the first match of the day, as the junior struck-out two and permitted two hits with no runs allowed.
The Panthers scored the two winning runs in the opening home half of Game 1 on three hits. Leadoff Smith started with a single to center field, followed by Leonard who reached on a fielder's choice.
Vanessa Rubio then stepped into the box and drove a single to right center, which allowed the FIT first baseman to score. Catcher
Makayla Palmer continued the hot streak for the Panthers, as she flared an RBI single to bump up the Florida Tech lead, 2-0.
Khan flawlessly blanked the Rollins bats, as she kept the rival lineup scoreless for four straight innings. Pence came in to relief during the middle of the fifth, sealing the sixth seasonal win for her fellow teammate.
In Game 2, Florida Tech exploded for six runs on eight hits, scoring in two innings in a close 6-5 win over Rollins College. The Panthers looked fresh as five different FIT players earned hits in the contest.
Leonard roped a triple to the deep left field to open the first inning and scored on an error by the Tars center fielder. Rollins eventually answered back and got themselves on the board grabbing three runs.
With a 3-1 deficit heading into the top of the second, the Crimson and Gray had the game in-hand and looked to produce a few more quality at-bats before closing out the game.
Kaitlin
Buchholz opened-up the frame by flaring a single to the right field, and advanced to second on a passed ball. Karina
Suicava brought in the second run for FIT to close the gap, as she dropped a squeeze to push
Buchholz home.
With a 3-2 count, Smith belted her fifth seasonal homerun and drove in three runs, putting the Panthers ahead, 4-1. The FIT bats were hot, and Rubio snatched one more run with an RBI double to the left field.
The remainder of the game went scoreless for both dugouts, and with a mutual effort by Pence and Khan, Florida Tech clawed its first conference sweep.
The Panthers will head back home to face the Nova Southeastern Sharks on Mar. 31 at Nancy
Bottge Field. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. ET. Fans can access live coverage of the event at FloridaTechSports.com/live!
