The BOCA RATON, Fla. – Florida Tech softball (10-2, 3-0 SSC) broke out the brooms as they swept Lynn (8-5, 0-3 SSC) in the team's first Sunshine State Conference series of the season. The Panthers collected a 9-5 victory in the first game of the day and followed that with a 9-4 rout in the final contest.
Jordan Lawlis began the first game of the doubleheader but was quickly replaced by
Tina Velazquez Rolon (3-0) who finished the final 6.1 frames. Velazquez Rolon put together a masterful showing as she surrendered only two runs, both earned, on three hits and sat down four of the 26 batters she faced.
This game did not start out in Tech's favor as the Fighting Knights bats were alive early as they scored three runs in the bottom half of the first inning. They tacked on their four unanswered run in the bottom half of the third.
The Panthers finally got themselves onto the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when
Jaden Kline (first RBI) sent a shot to center field that pushed
Ally Carver (seventh runs) across the bag.
Victoria Szrom (fifth RBI) then sent a ball deep to left-center field that gave Kline (first run) plenty of time to tout over home plate. Szrom (third run) eventually scored the third run of the inning off a Lynn fielding error.
But Lynn distanced itself in the bottom half of the fourth as the Panthers' deficit to 5-3. However, this motived the Crimson and Gray and set off a monster four-run top of the fifth that secured the team its win.
Katrina Hand, Velazquez Rolon,
Melinda Rule and Szrom all made it safely over the bag during the fifth as the bats of
Alexus Smith, Szrom and
Shanysse Emerenciana got them there.
It was smooth sailing the rest of the way for Tech as Velazquez Rolon shutdown the Fighting Knights and two more insurance runs were tacked on in the top of the seventh to make the final score 9-5.
Melanie Murphy was tasked with the starters duties for the final gam and lasted 4.1innings before giving way to Velazquez Rolon (4-0) who closed out the weekend. The two pitchers allowed only four runs, two earned and four hits with three Ks in a combined effort.
The game started off as a pitcher's duel as neither team got onto the board till the fourth inning. Florida Tech broke the scoreless tie in the top half of the fourth when
Shanysse Emerenciana tripled to center field. A passed ball later in the inning pushed Shanysse across the plate for the second run of the game.
But not to be outdone, Lynn tacked on two runs of its own in the bottom of the fourth to knot it up, 2-2, as the game went to the fifth frame.
A Velazquez Rolon double in the fifth put the Panthers back on top but that did not last long as two runs in the bottom half of the inning gave the Fighting Knights their first lead of the game at 4-3.
Tech answered in the sixth with two runs of its own to take back the lead for good. The Emerenciana twins teamed up for the first run as Xiarysse (first RBI) batted home Shanysse (sixth run).
Cheyenne Nelson (fourth RBI) got Xiarysse (11
th run) home later in the frame.
This put the score at 5-4 with only one inning left to play. The Panthers final time at the plate was extremely productive as they tacked on four insurance runs to make it 9-4 as they hit the field for the chance to close out the series and extend the teams win streak to nine straight. The women did just that as excellent pitching by Murphy combined with stellar fielding made easy work of Lynn as Florida Tech cruised to the 9-4 victory.
Tech will rest up till Friday when they open the DII Florida Tech Invitational at Central Florida Spring Training against Georgia College at 4 p.m. ET. That game will be followed with a showdown against Columbus State immediately after. Both of these games will take place at the USSSA Space Coast Complex in Viera, Florida.
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech softball team, visit FloridaTechSports.com. Fans can also stay up to date on the latest Panthers news by following Florida Tech Athletics on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.
