ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Dropping their first conference series after a four-week span, Florida Tech (30-20, 14-13 SSC) split the doubleheader against the Eckerd Tritons (20-24, 11-16 SSC) on Saturday afternoon at the Turley Athletic Complex. After taking Game 1 in overpowering fashion, 4-0, the Panthers battled the Tritons in a close Game 2, but were unable to fill the gap and suffered their second loss of the weekend, 3-2.

In the circle, senior McKenzie Krutsinger (9-7) collected her second consecutive win against Eckerd. The Sidney, Illinois native held the St. Petersburg lineup scoreless in seven complete innings pitched, and tallied a season-high four strikeouts to increase her total to 21. 

Fellow teammate Melanie Murphy (15-9) recorded a four-inning perfect game, where she restrained the Tritons from reaching base. Despite the loss, Murphy continues to represent the Panthers in the NCAA DII Top-10 leaderboard, taking the seventh spot with a 1.03 ERA in 177 innings pitched.

Leading the Crimson and Gray firepower, junior Alexus Smith went 4-for-7 at the plate with three RBI. Following closely behind her, sophomore Ally Carver and freshman Mikayla Wessel recorded a 2-for-5 performance in the box, with Carver collecting one RBI, and Wessel earning a season-best four stolen bases. With her 22 stolen bases in the season, Wessel now ranks fifth among the SSC leaderboard.

Rounding out the stat leaders, senior Makayla Palmer and junior Xiarysse Emerenciana drove in one RBI each, with Palmer recording her 10th double of the year.

During Game 1, Florida Tech set the pace for the Tritons, scoring early and soon on a double to deep left center by Palmer, which brought in one run for FIT in the top of the first.

After a scoreless second inning, the Melbourne squad increased its stretch in the top of the third, where Smith, Carver, and Emerenciana joined forces to push across one run each for a 4-0 lead over EC. 

For the remainder of the game, a flawless performance by Krutsinger and a sturdy Panthers defense secured the win for Florida Tech, 4-0.

Forwarding to Game 2, both dugouts struggled to breach through the score, as Murphy and Eckerd's Nikole Van Gennep retired each lineup with quick 1-2-3 frames for four straight innings.
 
However, as the fifth came around, the Tritons broke Murphy's perfect game with a bunt, and eventually racked up three runs to take the lead, 3-0.

Fighting back in the top of the sixth, Smith blasted a two-run double to close the deficit by one run, 3-2. Entering the seventh trailing by one, the Panthers could put runners on base and eventually dropped to Eckerd, 3-2.

Florida Tech will conclude both regular season and conference play against the Lynn Fighting Knights Thursday, Apr. 26 at 3 p.m. ET. The SSC series will be the last held on Nancy Bottge Field for the season and will host a ceremony for the 2018 senior class in addition to recognizing its faculty members.

For more info, fans can access FloridaTechSports.com.