Florida Tech Staves Off Georgia College Comeback


Florida Tech finished the NFCA Division II Leadoff Classic Sunday afternoon, taking down Georgia College, by the score of 6-5. The Panthers finished the tournament with a record of 4-1, with their only loss coming to Texas A&M-Commerce on Sunday morning.

Florida Tech pounded out 13 hits, led by Hailey Leonard's 3-for-4 day. Alexus Smith (home run), Vanessa Rubio and Karina Suicava all had multi-hit days.

The Panthers carried a 6-4 lead into the seventh inning, but the Bobcats mounted a two-out rally, against Florida Tech starter Rachel Pence, scoring twice before Faith Flanders to flied out with the tying run at second, to end the game.

Georgia College got to Pence in the top of the third. Amber Coy singled driving in two runs and Flanders had an RBI single, giving her team a 3-0 lead.

Florida Tech (7-3) closed the gap in the bottom of the inning, getting to Georgia College starter Kayla Price, for two runs. Smith started the inning with a double. After Krista Patterson walked, Rubio brought Smith home with a base hit. With Patterson at third, Leonard singled, making it 3-2.

The Panthers grabbed the lead in the fourth. Audrey Gangloff singled and scored on a Kaitlin Buchholz double, tying things at three. Suicava singled, scoring Buchholz and giving the Panthers a 4-3 lead. FIT threatened again in the bottom of the fifth, with singles by Rubio and Rachel Kraak, but couldn’t cash them in, stranding three runners.

Smith put an exclamation point on the Panthers scoring effort with a home run, scoring Suicava ahead of her. Suicava had started the inning with a single. That gave the Panthers a 6-3 lead and proved to be just enough insurance.

Pence was not as dominant as Florida Tech fans have come to expect Sunday, but considering she pitched four of the Panthers five games this weekend, it is understandable. She went the distance Sunday, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits, walking two and striking out five. She threw 108 pitches, 73 for strikes.

For more info: Georgia College @ Florida Tech Box Score

The Panthers return home next Friday, to kick off the Florida Tech Marriott Brawl at the Beach Tournament. They will face East Stroudsburg at 10:00 a.m. and Saint Leo at 5:30 p.m.


This blog is an extension of our website - Sportslowdown.com
Follow us on Twitter @sports_lowdown

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

FIT Men Push Win Streak to Five

Image
Patrick Anderson - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Men’s Basketball team beat Nova Southeastern Saturday, 98-90 and in the process won their fifth straight game and have now won seven out of eight, after two straight losses to start the season. The first half was a back-and-forth affair with Jordan Majors and Patrick Anderson dropping in 12 points apiece. Majors was 4-of-5 from three-point range and Anderson was 2-of-5, leading the Panthers to an 11-of-18 first half, from beyond the arc. “The difference in the game was clearly in two areas,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims in his postgame interview with Jim Mitchell. “We made 14 threes’ in the game and we’re shooting the ball as well as anybody in the conference,” he said. “We shot 41 percent behind the arc and when you shoot like that, it’s hard to lose games. The other thing that stood out was how well we passed the basketball, talk about a team effort, we had 26 assists and only 13 tur...
Read more

FIT Women Fall Short Against Rollins

Image
The Florida Tech Women’s basketball team made a late run at a comeback Wednesday against Rollins, but ultimately the Tars hung on for a 72-67 Sunshine State Conference win. “It comes down to Rollins wanted that game more than we did,” said Panthers head coach John Reynolds. “I’m thinking that and it hurts me to say something like that, but you can’t come out in a conference game and go 3-for-14 on three’s.” Florida Tech (5-2, 1-2 SSC) led 14-11 after one quarter, The Panthers were within a point at 27-26, but a six-point run by Rollins late in the second helped them outscore the Panthers 25-14 in the quarter and go to the locker room with a 36-28 advantage. The visitors were 5-of-13 beyond the arc in that first half, while the Panthers went 0-for-8. Shequana Harris had eight points and three rebounds in the first 20 minutes, to pace the Panthers. “I think she played as hard and as good as she could,” said Reynolds of Harris. Marie Gilbert gave the Tars a 42-33 adv...
Read more

Panthers Knock off Sharks in Men's Soccer

Image
The Florida Tech Panthers traveled to Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday, for a showdown with the Nova Southeastern Sharks. It was a tightly contested match throughout, but the Panthers prevailed 3-1, notching their 11th consecutive victory over the Sharks in Sunshine State Conference play.   Florida Tech (5-1, 2-0 SSC) kept Sharks' goalie Nico Rosiglioni busy in the first half, but he deserves a lot of credit, as he kept his team in the game. The Panthers got an early chance when Luca Campanini got Rosiglioni out of the net and had a golden opportunity, only to have Lucas Dessoliers layout and give up his body, to stop the ball from going in.   Shortly thereafter, the Panthers got behind the defense and had a 3-on-1. Brandon Smalley found Per Henrik Nag with a nice pass, but he banged it off the post, keeping the game scoreless, with 28:41 gone by. Rosiglioni came up big again later in the contest, making a point-blank Save on Smalley with 12 and a half minutes left....
Read more