MELBOURNE, Fla. - Florida Southern College softball came back to defeat Florida Tech University on Saturday morning 7-5, to win the Sunshine State Conference series 2-1 to open conference play.
The Moccasins (5-5, 2-1 SSC) were led by
Skyler Ralstin hitting her fourth home run of her career and first first of the season going 2-for-4 from the plate, with three runs, and two runners batted in. FSC tallied eight hits in the game as
Gabby Young,
Taylor Thomas,
Kelsey Kadlub,
Shelbie Valencia,
Destiny Colgate, and
Kiki Morris each notched a hit on the day. Valencia brought in two runners to tie Ralstin, followed by Thomas, Kadlub, Colgate, and Morris with an RBI in the win.
The Panthers (8-5, 1-2 SSC) saw a perfect batting performance from Katie Hogue going 3-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI. Mya Ogbodiewg had two hits, followed by five other Florida Tech Panthers with a solo hit to out-hit the Mocs 10-to-8.
Mel Rogers got the nod in the circle pitching four innings before turning it over to
Amanda Lieberman (1-0) who came in for the win pitching three innings allowing just one run off four hits.
Florida Tech attacked early after loading the bases and scoring on a sacrifice fly to the right field for an early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
With a 1-0 lead, the Panthers tacked on three more runs in the bottom of the third to take a quick 4-0 lead. In the top of the fourth inning, Ralstin hit a solo homer over the left fence cutting into Florida Tech's lead 4-1. In the top of the sixth FSC rallied on two outs as Kadlub and Coglate both singled to cut the lead down to a one-run game.
The game on the line, the Moccasins bats came to life as Morris stepped in to pinch hit to get the comeback going with a single to right-center field. Morris moved into scoring position and Thomas tied the game with an RBI single through the middle. Ralstin's RBI single to right-center gave the Mocs the go-ahead run 5-4. The Panthers had a pitching change, but a fielder choice loaded up the bases for FSC. Valencia earned two RBIs scoring Ralstin and Thomas going into the final inning with a two-run lead, 7-4. Florida Tech was able to rally an extra run to try and catch the FSC but the Mocs took the final game of the series to go 2-1 to open conference play on the road.
Florida Southern returns to Chris Bellotto Field on Friday, Feb. 23 to host the first SSC series at home against Barry University. The first pitch is scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
