MELBOURNE, Fla. – No. 12 Florida Tech softball put on an excellent display of softball in game one of the weekend series against Sunshine State Conference rival Barry. The Panthers took down the Buccaneers, 10-0, in a quick five inning contest.
 
Plenty of Panthers were hot at the plate but none more so than Vanessa Rubio, Jaden Kline and Shanysse Emerenciana. Rubio continued her recent string of dominance as the current SSC player of the week went 3-3 with two runs and two RBIs. Kline had a career day as she went 3-3 with one run, four RBIs and double. Shanysse may have only been 1-3 but that one hit was a monster shot over the center-field fence that tacked on three runs.
 
Melanie Murphy (12-5) found herself in her usual spot as the opening game starter. The hometown hero may have only had a brief appearance but it could not have gone any better as she did not allow a single run or hit in the three innings she pitched.
 
Tina Velazquez Rolon eventually replaced Murphy in the bottom of the fourth inning and tossed the final two frames. The Puerto Rico native put together a respectable game as she closed out the Bucs with relative ease. During her time in the circle, she surrendered no runs on two hits and had one strikeout.
 
Tech jumped out to an early lead as the team managed to get one on the board in their first time at the plate. This run came courtesy of Jaden Kline and her single to left-center field that scored Xiarysse Emerenciana. But this was only a precursor as the Crimson and Gray put on an offensive clinic in their second plate appearance.
 
Xiarysse kicked off what would be a six-run inning for Florida Tech when she sent a grounder flying up the middle that brought home Mikayla Wessel. Rubio tallied her first RBI when she hit the center field fence for a single that scored Xiarysse. Kline would earn her second RBI in two innings when she hit a screamer down the left-field line that got Velazquez Rolon home safely.
 
The highlight of the inning though came when Shanysse drilled a ball so high and deep it cleared the extended portion of the center field fence with ease and drove Rubio, Kline and herself across the bag. This made the score, 7-0, as the game went into the third inning.
 
The Panthers' onslaught continued into the third as they tacked on three more runs. Rubio tallied her final hit and RBI of the contest when she singled through the left side that allowed X. Emerenciana to trot over home plate. Kline finished the game as she started it with another single that managed to bring home her teammates. These were the final of the contest as the team won game one of three, 10-0.
 
Tech will be back on the field Saturday, March 23, for the final two games of the series. Game one of the doubleheader is set to begin at 1 p.m. ET and will be held at Nancy Bottge Field on the campus of Florida Tech.
 
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