MELBOURNE, Fla. - Kicking off conference play on the home diamond of Nancy Bottge Field, Florida Tech (7-10, 0-4 SSC) dropped the first game of the series against the Tampa Spartans (9-8, 4-3 SSC), 4-1, on Friday afternoon.

In the circle, McKenzie Krutsinger (3-3) earned her third loss of the season against the Spartans, allowing seven hits and four runs in four innings pitched. Senior Amanda Khan closed the game for FIT, allotting solely three hits and striking out one in three innings pitched.

At the plate, sophomores Vanessa Rubio and Ally Carver ended the Friday outing with a 2-for-3 performance inside the box, with Rubio recording the only RBI for the Crimson and Gray on a double. Jessica Callahan, Victoria Szrom, and Mikayla Wessel added one hit each to the Panthers total.

As a team, Florida Tech recorded seven hits in 25 at-bats and hosted 21 putouts defensively.

During the game, the Panthers broke through the score first in the bottom of the second, where Rubio flared a double down the left field line to push home Alexus Smith and put FIT ahead, 1-0. After two scoreless back-to-back frames, the Spartans turned the game around in the fourth, as the Tampa lineup drove in four runs to overlap Florida Tech, 4-1.
 
From there, both pitchers dominated for the remainder of the game, as neither dugout was able to bring runners across home plate. Although Carver and Szrom brought FIT on base in the sixth and seventh respectively, the Melbourne lineup could not move its runners on the bases and eventually fell to Tampa, 4-1.

Tomorrow, Florida Tech will conclude the SSC series against the Spartans with a doubleheader starting at 12 p.m. ET.

For more info, please visit FloridaTechSports.com.