MELBOURNE, Fla. - On Thursday afternoon, Florida Tech (22-17, 6-10 SSC) downed the Rollins Tars (21-16, 7-9) in thrilling fashion at the Nancy Bottge Field. The Panthers walked away with the 2-0 win after scoring runs early in the game, and managed to maintain that lead due to an extraordinary effort from Florida Tech's ace pitcher.
Yielding the Sunshine State Conference's best ERA,
Melanie Murphy (10-7) crowned her fourth shutout of the year with a season-high seven strikeouts in the seven complete innings pitched. With her incredible performance, Murphy now counts a conference-best 1.16 ERA in 121 innings pitched. The Melbourne product also increased her strikeouts total to 65, making it the sixth-best inside the SSC leaderboard.
In the box,
Shanysse Emerenciana led the Crimson and Gray lineup with a .500 batting average and a .667 on-base percentage. The Willemstad, Curacao, native also drove in the only FIT RBI on her second double of the season. Aiding the Panthers total,
Mikayla Wessel,
Makayla Palmer,
Xiarysse Emerenciana and
Alexus Smith all recorded one hit each.
The Panthers broke through the score in their very first at-bats, as Wessel stole home on a wild pitch to bring in the first run for Florida Tech, 1-0.
After holding Rollins blank in the top of the second, FIT struck again in the bottom of the inning, when Emerenciana doubled to deep left center to push
Ally Carver home to increase the Panthers stretch, 2-0.
Forwarding through three consecutive innings to the sixth, the Tars threatened the Panthers lead after they loaded the bases with two walks and reached on a fielding error by Florida Tech's defense. With one out and the possible tying and go-ahead runs on base, Murphy hosted back-to-back strikeouts to dominate the Tars lineup, sending them back to the dugout scoreless, 2-0.
In the final frame, a solid Crimson and Gray defense effort sealed the deal with three quick putouts to end the Thursday outing victorious, 2-0.
Tomorrow the Panthers will conclude the SSC series against Rollins with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. ET.
For live coverage of the event, please access FloridaTechSports.com!
