FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Approaching the end of conference play, Florida Tech (13-20, 8-11 SSC) downed the Nova Southeastern Sharks (16-20, 5-11 SSC) in a 4-1 decision on Friday night at the AD Griffin Sports Complex.
Leading the stat leaders, Week 7
NFCA National Pitcher of the Week
Melanie Murphy (12-7) notched another win on to her belt after solely allowing two hits and striking out four of the 23 Nova batters faced. The also, SSC Pitcher of the Week remains atop the conference standings with a new cumulative low 1.04 ERA, which is highlighted by 73 strikeouts in 135 innings pitched. Additionally, the left-handed ace has continued to spread her reign into other conference categories, as she now sits in second on the
leaderboard for holding opponents to a.190 batting average.
Leading the Panthers
offensively, junior
Xiarysse Emerenciana ended the night outing with a 3-for-4 performance at the plate, heightened by two doubles and two RBI. The Willemstad Curacao product leads the team with a .322 batting average, .479 slugging percentage, and counts 13 RBI on the season. In the conference,
Emerenciana ties for first in the triples category with five, and places in seventh for stolen bases with 15.
Aiding the Crimson and Gray total, sophomore Rachel
Kraak went 2-for-3 inside the box, increasing her seasonal batting average to .206. Behind her,
Mikayla Wessel and
Vanessa Rubio pitched in with one hit apiece, with
Wessel collecting one RBI in the evening.
Starting this off, Florida Tech set the pace in its very first at-bats with back-to-back singles by
Emerenciana and
Wessel to put FIT ahead, 1-0. In the same frame, a troubled play by the Sharks allowed
Wessel to reach home and increase the Panthers stretch, 2-0.
After holding NSU scoreless in the bottom of the first, Florida Tech struck again in the top of the second, where
Kraak singled to third and
Emerenciana blasted a double to the deep left center to push
Kraak across for another Panther run, 3-0.
From there, both dugouts struggled to place runners on base, which can be credited to the pitching staffs performances that allowed no hits for four straight innings. In seventh,
Kraak and
Emerenciana got the Panthers offense going once more, as the duo's combined efforts tacked on the final Crimson and Gray run of the game, allowing FIT to stretch its lead, 4-0.
In the bottom half of the inning, the Sharks managed to post one run on the scoreboard but the Panthers defense quickly wrapped things up with two consecutive putouts to seal the win, 4-1.
Tomorrow, Florida Tech will conclude the SSC series against Nova with a doubleheader starting at 1 p.m. ET.
For more info, please visit FloridaTechSports.com!
