Sports Lowdown

2016 playoffs - North Greenville - Photo credit: James Ragan Despite another good performance out of the defense, the Florida Tech Panthers suffered their second straight loss last Saturday falling to North Alabama 30-7. North Alabama got a blocked punt for a touchdown and a pick-6, turning what was a close game at the half, into one of the most lopsided losses in program history.   “It wasn't turnovers that were anything that they did to create the turnovers, it was our own fault,” said head coach Steve Englehart on Thursday. “We had two passes that hit our wide receivers right in the hands that popped up and they end up picking them off and obviously the blocked punt had a big part to do with the game.”   Outside of those turnovers, the Panthers held the North Alabama offense in check. They allowed the Lions 134 yards of total offense, including 56 through the air. This is not a surprise, as the Panthers defense has come up big all season.   “Defens...

Reid Neal - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Nova Southeastern Sharks showed why they are the defending NCAA Division II baseball champions on Sunday, completing a doubleheader sweep of the Florida Tech Panthers, winning game two, 11-6. Following a 7-6 win in game one , the Sharks found themselves down early in game two. only to fight back and take the lead late. Florida Tech followed their 14-hit barrage in game one, with 12 more in game two, but it wasn’t enough. Florida Tech (27-19, 11-9 SSC) got to NSU starter Jonny Ortiz in the top of the second inning. Nick Capra doubled and later scored on a single by Vincenzo Catanza . The lead was short-lived, as the Sharks jumped on Andy Marzheuser in the bottom of the frame. Michael Hernandez and Dylan Woods each hit two-run home runs, quickly giving the home team a 4-1 lead. To the Panthers credit, much like they did in game one, they would fight back in the top of the third.   Reid Neal , John Sternag...

The Clemente Center was the place to be Monday night; as coaches, athletes and administrators gathered to celebrate another great season of Florida Tech sports in 2016-2017. A highlight video started things off, showing highlight-reel moments from each of Florida Tech’s 22 sports programs. The Panthers also took time to recognize an exceptional group of kids involved with their Team Impact program, with those kids in attendance. Athletes who were on the Athletic Director’s Honor Roll were recognized, along with seniors from each team. Women’s Soccer took home the Panther Cup, with softball finishing second. There were two Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year award winners this year, with Manny Abad from the football team and Daniel Schultz of men's cross country sharing the honor. The Female Scholar-Athlete of the Year was Jenna Schaffer of the volleyball team. Men’s Cross Country earned the team GPA Award, for the fifth year in a row, posting a 3.576 cumulati...

Hailey Leonard went 2-for-3 in game 1 - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography It is odd to call a game that had a 4-3 final score a slugfest, but when the game features four home runs, including the game winner, it seems appropriate. That was the situation Florida Tech softball was in Saturday, as they came up on the short end, in game one of a doubleheader against Palm Beach Atlantic. “We battled,” said Panthers coach Val Silvestrini. “I thought both teams played well, but we just need to do the little things better.” PBA (16-11) struck first, against Panthers starter Rachel Pence . Kayla Knight started off the top of the second with a single and later scored on a two-bagger by Michaela Hynes. The top of the third would produce one more run for the Sailfish, but it probably should have been more Maddie Bertisch started the inning with what seemed to be an innocent pop to short. The ball went off the glove of Krista Patterson and Bertisch inexplicably rounded th...

Reid Neal - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography A three-run home run by Quincy’s Jake Walters in the top of the ninth inning was the difference Saturday, as the Florida Tech Panthers lost their second game of the weekend 8-5, to the Quincy Hawks. The decisive long ball was the second of the day for Walters, who also hit one in the second inning. Florida Tech’s Reid Neal matched him with home runs in the bottom of the first and bottom of the ninth. It was a back-and-forth affair for much of the day, with the teams combining for 19 hits, but in the end, the Panthers suffered their second loss of the weekend, at Bob Stein Stadium in Dahlonega, GA. Quincy struck first against Florida Tech starter Tyler Deel .  Jack Klages doubled leading off the game and later scored on an error. The Panthers answered immediately in the bottom of the inning. John Sternagel drew a walk to lead off the inning and Reid Neal took Quincy starter Mark Niebrugge, deep and out, giving the...

Carson Clough - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech lacrosse team suffered their third straight loss Saturday afternoon, a 13-11 defeat at Mount Olive. It was another hard-luck loss for the Panthers, who have lost all three games by a combined five goals. The Ninth-ranked Trojans scored eight goals in the second half, improving their record to 3-0. Daniel Flock took the loss between the pipes for Florida Tech, falling to 1-3 on the season. The Panthers played well in the first half, getting goals 10 seconds apart from Reid Chaconas and Nick Wynne , against Mount Olive keeper Will Urban. Less than a minute later, Charlie Morrisette made it a 3-0 lead for the visitors. The Trojans scored the next three goals, tying the game on Luke Dalman’s tally, with 4:39 left in the quarter. The Panthers regained the lead 2:59 later, with a goal from Austen Zugelter . After a Mount Olive goal tied the game 34 seconds into the second quarter, Tyler Covey ,...

Sam Daniel - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Palm Beach Atlantic Sailfish put a damper on Florida Tech’s Senior Day Saturday, beating the Panthers 80-76 in the regular season finale for both teams. Sam Daniel led the home team with 25 points, but FIT couldn’t overcome a sluggish second half that saw them get outscored 47-36. “In the second half, they forced us into a lot of turnovers,” said Panthers head coach Billy Mims. “We were real sloppy and they pressed us, turned it into a full-court game and we didn’t take advantage of the pressure.” To Mims point, his team turned it over 13 times in the second half, while only forcing eight. Senior Robert Booth finished with 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Patrick Anderson chipped in 13 and Jordan Majors had 10. The game was even for much of the first half, before the Panthers before Anderson and Majors hit consecutive threes to get Florida Tech a 31-20 lead. After Dakota Zinser hit one for PBA, senior Raf...

Julie McCarthy - Photo credit: James Ragan Julie McCarthy scored 13 points and pulled down 11 rebounds Saturday, in her final regular season game with the Panthers, helping Florida Tech secure a 56-46 victory over Palm Beach Atlantic and finish the regular season on a winning note. “Obviously, there was no hangover for Julie with the corrective measures we took on Wednesday ,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds. Give her credit for being a good teammate, I’m proud of her.” “This group of kids has faced all kinds of adversity throughout the year, as much as any team I’ve ever coached,” he continued. “Today what we did was battle ourselves back to be 13-13. We got back to .500… and I thought that was the goal.” Florida Tech (13-13, 8-10 SSC) dominated the first quarter, leading 17-8 and played well in the second quarter, getting three pointers from Markeema Crawford and Amanda Allen early. DeLise Williams made her defense pay off after a steal, she dished to A...

Ashle Thompson (#4) had a career-high 12 points on Wednesday - Credit: James Ragan Photography Senior Ashle Thompson scored a career-high 12 points and pulled down seven boards on Wednesday, helping Florida Tech beat Tampa 58-54 in a Sunshine State Conference battle at the Clemente Center. Thompson, who scored a total of 15 points last season, took advantage of the opportunity she was afforded Wednesday night, getting the start and paying big dividends. She was 6-of-7 from the floor. “I’m really proud of her, but more importantly, I’m happy for her,” said Florida Tech coach John Reynolds. “I am happy for a senior who has been a role player for four years and has seen limited action. Over the last couple weeks, she just decided she was gonna go out and have fun and tonight, she had fun.” Thompson scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half, when the Panthers scored 36 as a team. This despite Florida Tech being without the services of Amanda Allen (sprained ankle...

The Florida Tech softball team split a doubleheader with Valdosta State on Tuesday, winning game one 11-2, before dropping the second game 6-5. The Panthers did all their damage in two of the five innings played in the first game, pounding out 13 hits. Alexus Smith finished game one 3-for-4 and the Karina Suicava , who has done a great job in the nine spot for the Panthers in the early going, finishing 3-for-3 on Tuesday, with two RBIs. Rachel Pence (7-2) gave up five hits in her five innings of work, with both Valdosta State runs coming in the first inning. She walked two and did not strike out a batter. Blazers pitcher Avery Lamb went the first three innings, with the Panthers exploding for seven runs in the top of the third. Suicava and Smith singled and Krista Patterson drew a walk to load the bases. Vanessa Rubio doubled in two, tying the game and the Panthers were off and running. Hailey Leonard ’s RBI ground out made it 3-2 and Makayla Palmer had an RBI...

Austen Zugelter - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Austen Zugelter scored two of his four goals in the fourth quarter on Sunday, but the climb up the mountain proved to be too much, as the Panthers fell 11-8 to the Wingate Bulldogs in a non-conference lacrosse matchup. Dylan Riley scored twice, while Nick Wynne and Carson Clough had single tallies for the Panthers. The Bulldogs were led by Conor Gronbach and Alex Llerandi, who each scored twice. The Panthers took 38 shots against Wingate goalie Will Sheridan, who made a couple key saves in the fourth quarter with the Panthers on the doorstep. He was credited with 12 saves. The Bulldogs took 34 shots, with Panthers netminder Daniel Flock making nine saves. Flock struggled out of the gate, giving up three goals in the first quarter. Daniel Godwin started the scoring 2:51 in and Gronbach scored just over five minutes later with the extra man, giving the Bulldogs a 2-0 lead. Zugelter’s first goal of the day...