MELBOURNE, Fla. – It was a beautiful Saturday afternoon at Nancy Bottge Field as No. 10 Florida Tech softball hosted Sunshine State Conference rival, Palm Beach Atlantic, in a doubleheader to finish off the weekend series. The first game did not go Tech's way as the team loss, 3-2, but Florida Tech won the series in game two as they took down PBA, 3-2.
 
Jordan Lawlis (4-1) was the first Panther to take the mound and she strung together a solid outing. The junior went six innings and allowed three runs on four hits. She was replaced by Tina Velazquez Rolon who shut down the Sailfish in the final inning of play.
 
The game was scoreless till a PBA home run, in the top of the seventh, made it 1-0. The Sailfish racked up two more runs in the seventh to give them a three-run cushion as the game went into the bottom half of the inning.
 
However, that was almost not enough as the Panthers put together a two-out rally that saw two runs score thanks to errors by PBA's catcher. Xiarysse Emerenciana was the first to score and later in the inning Katrina Hand tallied the second run.
 
Game two saw Melanie Murphy (15-5) in the pitcher's circle to start the game. It was another seven-inning performance for Murphy as she gave up only two runs, one earned, on six hits and sat five down on strikes.
 
Florida Tech did not let the woes of game one get to them as the team jumped on the Sailfish early as a Vanessa Rubio single, in the bottom of the first inning, scored Xiarysse.
 
PBA took the lead in the top of the fourth as two runs come across the bag. But, the Crimson and Gray regained its one-run advantage in the bottom portion of the inning as the team score two runs of its own.
 
A Sailfish error again helped Florida Tech get on the board as Peyton Anders got home thanks to a throwing error by the shortstop. Run two scored when Cheyenne Nelson sent a shot through the left side which aided Mikayla Wessel home. This brought the final score to 3-2 as it held for the rest of the evening.
 
Florida Tech will hit the road for their next game Friday, April 5, when the women head to Winter Park, Florida, for a weekend series with Rollins. The first pitch is set to take place at 6 p.m. ET.
 
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