After an exciting doubleheader sweep over Lynn at Nancy Bottge field on Thursday, the Florida Tech softball team repeated the feat on Friday this time at Boca Raton, running their record to 4-0 on the young season.
We hit the ball really well and I like how the offense is playing right now,” said Panthers coach Val Silvestrini. “I knew we had a good offense I’ve seen it in practice, but you really never know how good you’re gonna be until you start playing other teams.”
Game one saw the Panthers get eight hits in an 8-4 win, while in game two, they scored nine runs in the fourth inning en route to a 10-1 win in five innings.
After a 4-for-5, six RBI performance in game one on Thursday, Cheyenne Nelson was at it again Friday going 5-for-7 over the two games with four RBIs and three runs scored. She also stole two bases.
Samantha Guider got the start in game one for the Panthers and she was greeted rudely when Brittney Davis touched her up for a solo home run to start the bottom of the second.
The Panthers answered in the top of the third, helped by three Lynn errors. A walk and an error put two runners on and Emily Figueroa singled a run home. After Nelson walked to load the bases, Mikayla Wessel grounded one on the infield. The throw handcuffed the catcher and allowed two runs to score, making it 3-1. A sac fly by Tina Velazquez Rolon brought in the fourth run of the inning.
Florida Tech would score three more in the top of the fourth. Chloe French and Ashley Campbell had back-to-back singles and they were chased home a couple of batters later with a triple off the bat of Figueroa. She wouldn’t be there long as Nelson’s single brought her home to make it 7-1.
Lynn battled back a bit in the bottom of the fifth, coming up with three runs. Guider faced four batters in the inning giving up a run before giving way to Raychel Trocki. An RBI groundout and a wild pitch led to two more runs on Guider’s line after she left. That made it 7-4.
Florida Tech got one of those runs back in the top of the sixth when Nelson singled home pinch-runner, Jenna Hornsby with the final run of the game.
Guider (1-0) picked up her first win in the circle going 4.1 innings and allowing four earned runs on six hits. She walked one and struck out two, throwing 65 pitches. Trocki followed that with 2.2 innings allowing two hits. She struck out one and walked one, throwing 44 pitches.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Lynn Box Score (Game 1)
Game two did not go the distance as the Panthers exploded for nine runs in the fourth inning on their way to a 10-1 win.
Jordan Lawlis (1-0) got the start for the Panthers in the second game and went four innings. She did not allow a run and struck out three while walking one. She threw 58 pitches and got some run support before she even entered the circle.
Nelson singled and stole second to start the game and she came home on a single by Velazquez Rolon, giving the Panthers a 1-0 lead. It would stay that way until the decisive fourth inning.
The Panthers got eight hits in that fourth inning and saw the Fighting Knights commit two more errors. After Mikayla Lewin singled, Jolie Miracle reached on an error and Nelson came through again with a two-run single, making it 3-0. Figueroa who singled earlier in the inning would score on a Wessel groundout. An error would bring Nelson home and it was 5-0.
After an RBI single by French made it 6-0, back-to-back two-run doubles by Lewin, and freshman Jolie Miracle made it 10-0.
“We were hitting well against their pitching,” said Silvestrini. “We were just hitting it right at somebody. I knew eventually those hits would start dropping. Hitting is contagious and once we got a couple of hits, everybody got going.”
Lynn (0-4) scored their only run of the game against Panthers reliever Allison Platon.
For more info: Florida Tech @ Lynn Box Score (Game 2)
“We had a good week, Silvestrini said. “I don’t think we’ve ever scored 20 runs in a game (as they did yesterday), and we have a lot of kids hitting. We got our bench players involved and got a home run from Jenna Hornsby yesterday off the bench in her only at-bat.”
The Panthers return home on Wednesday, March 10 for a doubleheader against Nova Southeastern. Game one gets underway at 3:00 p.m.