GULF SHORES, Ala. – After a weather delay pushed back the long anticipated return of last year's Sunshine State Conference champions, the No. 9 Florida Tech softball team opened its season against Lubbock Christian and No. 4 West Florida. The team got off to a slower start than they would have liked as they dropped both games.
Mikayla Wessel was the sole Panther to get multiple runs with two while
Alexis Clark was the only one to earn multiple RBI with two.
Cheyenne Nelson,
Peyton Anders,
Ashlynn Shelley and
Katrina Hand all crossed the bag once. Meanwhile, Wessel, Nelson,
Jaden Kline and
Vanessa Rubio tallied one RBI.
Raychel Trocki (0-1) and
Jordan Lawlis (0-1) were the two Panthers to enter the circle. The freshman, Trocki, started both contests and during her 7.1 innings on the rubber, she surrendered seven hits and two runs, none earned, with seven strikeouts and one walk. Lawlis saw the majority of the action as she pitched 8.1 innings and gave up 14 runs, nine earned, on 14 hits. She also sat down five on strikes.
Game one began as a pitcher's duel as neither team had success on the scoreboard until the bottom of the fifth when a Crimson & Gray error gave up the game's first run. However, the women quickly struck back in the top of the sixth inning when Kline hit a sacrifice fly deep to right field that it allowed Wessel to cross the bag. This 1-1 tie held through the seventh and forced extra innings.
The extra innings saw both team's bats come alive as they combined for seven runs in two innings. The Panthers were up first and it looked good when Wessel hit a slow roller to LCU's shortstop that gave Shelley the time to reach home plate and make it 2-1. However, in the bottom half of the inning, the Chaps' Athena Muniz found open space in center field and brought a runner home to tie it back up. Tech did manage to work its way out of a jam as they stranded a runner on third and forced a ninth inning.
Another successful top half of the inning had two more Panthers, Nelson and Kline, score as the board read 4-2 as Florida Tech took to the field. LCU got its half inning scoring started with fielder's choice that managed to bring a run home. But, it looked as if the Panthers could stop the Chaps as the count was full with two outs. Sadly, an unfortunate error at third base allowed two LCU players to cross the plate and thus handed Tech its first loss of the season, 4-5.
The Crimson & Gray did not have much time to reflect on the first game as they had to quickly turn their sights to a new foe in No. 4 West Florida. Much like game one the first couple of innings, neither team managed to get a run across but that ended in the third when the Argos put two runs on the board. UWF matched that total in its next plate appearance and this put Florida Tech down by four as the game reached the fifth inning.
The tides looked like they may begin to turn in the fifth inning as a Nelson single to left-center field got Hand home and made it a 4-1 contest. The Panthers held West Florida scoreless in their half of the fifth and the confidence began to grow but another two-run Argo's sixth made it a 1-6 game and gave the women a steep hill to climb with only six more potential at-bats. UWF had its most prolific inning of the night in the seventh as five runs scored and made it 1-11.
Florida Tech did not give up though as they managed to tack on another run in the bottom of the seventh but their effort was not enough, as this was the final run of the night as the score was 2-11 when it went final.
Florida Tech will close out its Gulf Shores Invitational slate with a contest against Valdosta State. This game is set to begin at 10 a.m. ET at the Gulf Shores Sportsplex.
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.
