DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (Softball) - On a breezy day, Florida Tech (10-11) fell short in the ending doubleheader of the three game series against Embry-Riddle on Saturday Mar. 4. FIT lost by a score of 4-3 in game one and suffered a 6-1 loss during game two.
Offensive overall leaders were
Makayla Palmer going 3-for-5 at the plate with two RBIs and
Krista Patterson, who ended the day going 2-for-5 with one RBI. Defensively, the Crimson and Grey collected 36 putouts and 22 assists in the afternoon.
Rachel Pence (7-6) had a solid outing in the circle, giving up just one run and five base hits through the six-innings pitched during game one.
During game one, Palmer led FIT at the plate by pushing home Patterson at the top of the fourth to put the Panthers on the scoreboard. At the top of the fifth, Patterson flared a single to the shortstop advancing
Hailey Leonard and
Alexus Smith. With bases loaded, a walk allotted to
Vanessa Rubio enabled the Panthers to pull the deficit 3-2. Palmer now at bat, a hard single through the left side tied the game at three.
At the top of the seventh, the Crimson and Grey sparked a new chance to overlap Embry-Riddle due to a double down the left field line by
Smith. Although having offensive success, the Panthers half ended soon, leaving Smith on second unable to cross home plate.
In game two, FIT scored its first and only run at the top of the second with the homerun by first baseman Julianna Goldberg. The Panthers continued to find ways to get runners on base in the early innings against Embry-Riddle but failed to generate any runs.
Florida Tech put runners at first and second at the top of the third after a walk allotted to Rubio and a single through the left side by Palmer, however, both runners remained stuck on base and FIT could not produce a run. At the bottom of the sixth, the Eagles sealed the game with four runs and ending the match 6-1.
Amanda Kahn (3-3) collected her third seasonal loss only allowing seven hits, two runs, and two strikeouts in four innings pitched.
Florida Tech remains on the road during its next game against Alabama-Huntsville in a doubleheader on Tuesday, Mar. 7 at Charger Park. The first game is set for 2 p.m. ET. For more coverage of the event, please visit FloridaTechSports.com and access the live statistics link on https://portal.stretchinternet.com/fit/.
