GAME ONE BOX|GAME TWO BOX
PENSACOLA, Fla. – The Nova Southeastern softball team (2-4) closed out the West Florida Crossover Tournament with a pair of losses Sunday at the hands of No. 6 Valdosta State (3-1). The Blazers took the opener Sunday morning by a score of 6-1, and followed in game two with a 9-2 win.
GAME ONE
The Blazers wasted little time getting their bats going as Courtney Albritton tripled to left center just two pitches in. The next better, Morgan Johnson, singled out to shallow right field and scored Albritton to put VSU up 1-0 in the top of the first.
The Sharks got out of the rest of the inning without any more damage with starting pitcher
Sara DeMuth (Sr., Plant City, Fla.) striking out Natalia Morozova for the third out. The next three innings passed without either team scoring before the Blazers struck again in the top of the fifth.
After DeMuth struck out the leadoff hitter, Albritton hit a solo homerun over the left field wall for VSU’s second run of the game. In the sixth inning, the Blazers added two more runs when Clare Wamsley hit a two-run shot over the left center wall.
NSU posted a run in the bottom half of the sixth inning with
Katie Kelton (Sr., Pembroke Pines, Fla.) crossing the plate while Jamiee Vega was caught in a rundown between first and second.
The Blazers added two more in the top of the seventh, giving NSU a five-run deficit to overcome in the bottom half of the inning. The Sharks though could not muster any offensive prowess and the Blazers captured a 6-1 victory.
Alanna Hadley notched the victory in the circle for VSU to improve to 1-1, while DeMuth falls to 1-3 on the season. DeMuth struck out six, while walking five and allowing nine hits.
GAME TWO
VSU struck first again in the second game, this time posting two runs in the bottom of the first courtesy a RBI double by Ashley Steinhilber and a single from Morozova.
The Sharks trimmed the VSU lead to one in the third inning. Kelton reached base on a bunt single and moved up to second on a stolen base.
Jaimee Vega (Jr., Loxahatchee, Fla.) followed with a bunt single of her own. The VSU catcher attempted to make a play at first on the Vega bunt, but threw the ball into right field allowing Kelton to head home for NSU’s first run.
NSU evened the game at 2-2 in the fourth with a homerun from
Laura Saladrigas (Jr., Hollywood, Fla.). The bomb to right center was Saladrigas’ third of the weekend.
The Blazers responded quickly in the bottom half the inning with a pair of runs. With Wamsley on third, Erika Trojan singled out to right to drive in the first run and Albritton then drove in Trojan on a double to right center.
After a scoreless fifth, the Blazers bats came alive in the sixth for five more runs on four hits to increase the VSU lead to 9-2.
The Sharks had one last chance to make up the difference in the top of the seventh and started off well with a single down the left field line from
Raven Sepulveda (Fr., Tampa, Fla.). Unfortunately, the Sharks could not build any momentum off the first hit and closed the game without adding any additional runs.
Brianna Hancock picked up the victory in relief for the Blazers for her first win of the season. Saladrigas pitched all six innings for the Sharks, striking out three, but taking the loss to fall to 1-1.
The Sharks will next be in action Friday, Feb. 10 at the Eckerd College Tournament where they will take on Georgia College and State and Armstrong Atlantic on day one.
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