MELBOURNE, Fla. - Returning to Nancy Bottge Field after a road sweep over Nova Southeastern, Florida Tech (27-18, 11-11 SSC) started off the conference series against Florida Southern (23-15, 10-15 SSC) in thrilling fashion after sealing Game 1 of the series, 4-1.
Remaining nationally ranked 12th for her ERA inside the NCAA DII leaderboard,
Melanie Murphy (14-7) grabbed her fifth consecutive win, which saw a season-high eight strikeouts in seven complete innings pitched. With her nearly flawless performance, the lefty pitcher continues to secure her reign atop the SSC standings with a 1.04 ERA in 155 innings pitched, and increases her 2018 strikeout total to 85 for the eighth spot in the conference standings.
Leading the Crimson and Gray firepower, senior
Makayla Palmer rallied a perfect score inside the box, going 2-for-2 with one RBI and a double. Pitching in with one RBI apiece, freshman
Mikayla Wessel and veteran
Jessica Callahan recorded one hit each.
The Panthers scored soon and early in the bottom of the first, where
Xiarysse Emerenciana started off the batting frenzy for FIT with a single to left center. Following up, Callahan then flared a single to the deep center field to push Emerenciana home for the first Crimson and Gray run, 1-0. After Callahan stole second, Palmer then doubled to left center to push across another run for Florida Tech, 2-0.
Pushing home the Panthers third run of the game, Wessel punched a singled through the right side to score Emerenciana and increase FIT's stretch, 3-0.
In the fifth, however, the Mocs closed the gap with a solo home run by Jenna Weldon to shorten the deficit by two. During the next inning, Florida Tech to advantage of a muffed throw by the Florida Southern's second baseman to reach home for the Panthers final run of the game.
In the final frame, Murphy forced three putouts to win the pitchers duel Florida Tech, 4-1.
Tomorrow, the Panthers will conclude the series against the Mocs with a twin bill slated for 1 p.m. ET. After the second game of the doubleheader, the Panthers will welcome ALL Brevard County Little League teams out onto the field, where they will have the chance to get signatures from the FIT softball players!
For more info, please visit FloridaTechSports.com.
