Press Release Written by Nathan Foltz
MELBOURNE, Fla. - - Florida Tech took a pair of games from the Wilmington University softball team on Thursday, winning both contests in five innings by scores of 9-1 and 12-3 at Nancy Bottge Field.
The Panthers hit the Wilmington pitching staff around to the tune of 25 hits in nine trips to the plate, scoring at least one run in every inning they hit. The Wildcats, comparatively, plated their four runs on nine hits sprinkled across ten innings.
GAME 1:
The Wildcats put together good at-bats throughout the game, but ultimately struggled to put more than one runner on base in an inning as Florida Tech's offense scored in all five frames.
The Panthers scored one in the first on a two-out RBI double, one in the second on a two-out RBI single, one in the third on a one-out RBI double, and then broke it open in the fourth with four runs on five hits. They then put the run rule into effect in the bottom of the fifth on a two-out, two-run double that pushed their lead to eight.
Maddie Vollmar accounted for the only Wildcat run, popping a solo homer to left center in the top of the second.
Mia Lane had a two-out knock in the first, but she left first base early on a steal attempt to end the inning. Alexa Eisemann had a similar situation in the fifth, singling with one out before also getting called out for an early departure. In both instances, the runners were ruled safe at second on the field before the Panthers initiated replay reviews to catch the early head starts.
Brianna Greenlaw had the only other hit for Wilmington, singling in the fourth and advancing to second on a fielding error, but she was stranded there.
Vollmar took the loss, going 3.1 innings and yielding seven runs on ten hits with a walk and a strikeout. Olivia Hitchens came on in relief to throw 1.1 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk.
GAME 2:
The Wilmington lineup was shuffled significantly from Game 1, and early on, it worked well. Caroline Scott led off the game with a single and then scored on Hailey Trapani's subsequent triple-turned little league home run on an overthrow to third. Two batters later, Mia Lane smashed a home run to left that made it 3-0 Wildcats before the Panthers had a chance to bat.
Unfortunately, the early lead didn't last very long, as the Panthers scored six runs in the bottom of the inning on three hits, two walks, and two errors. Four runs were charged to starter Karen Sickle, who left the game without recording an out. Kasey Xenidis came in and struck out three of the four batters she faced to steady the ship a bit, but the damage had been done.
The Panthers made a pitching change coming into the second, which proved to be an effective move as Wilmington only recorded one more hit the rest of the game on a fourth-inning double by Krista Brunson. Florida Tech, meanwhile, chipped in another run in each of the second and third innings before plating four in the fifth to give them a nine-run lead that again put the run rule into effect.
Sickle took the loss, allowing six runs (four earned) on two hits and two walks. Kasey Xenidis was the most effective pitcher of the day for the Wildcats, throwing three innings and allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits with a walk and four punch outs. Julia Scannapieco pitched the final inning for Wilmington, allowing four runs on four hits with a walk.
NEXT UP:
Wilmington will make the cross-state trek to Tampa on Friday, where they'll hope to end their trip down south on a positive note. Their clash with the Spartans is set to begin at 2:00 p.m.
