Sports Lowdown

Nick Capra - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers ended their 2017 regular season, splitting a doubleheader at Eckerd. After dropping the first game 11-8, in a slugfest, the Panthers used a three run fourth inning in game two, to secure a 4-2 victory. With the victory in game two, the Panthers finished the season 10 games over .500 and won four of their last five games. Game one featured five home runs and was a back-and-forth affair throughout, with Florida Tech starter Tyler Deel going just three innings and Eckerd starter Nick Alonzo, lasting just four. Neither figured in the final outcome. Florida Tech (30-20, 14-10 SSC) got a run in the top of the first. Grant McKown singled and moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt later in the inning. He came home on a single by Reid Neal . Deel started the bottom of the first by hitting leadoff man Tom Buonopane, but he picked him off moments later. It was one of two pickoffs Deel had in h...

Rachel Pence - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography After a dominant 13-3 win in game one, The Florida Tech Panthers completed a doubleheader sweep of Eckerd on Friday, with a 5-1 victory in game two. Florida Tech ace Rachel Pence went the distance in her final home start for Florida Tech, striking out seven batters, allowing two hits and walking only one. It was an emotional day for Pence, who, along with six of her teammates, was honored as part of Senior Day, just before the second game got underway. “I was concerned with how our seniors were going to do right after the senior ceremony,” said Florida Tech coach Val Silvestrini. “They get emotional and we don’t have a lot of time to get ready for the game, but they did a great job.” The only run Pence allowed was unearned, in the first inning. Crystal Garcia hit an infield single to start the game and two batters later, Nikole Van Gennep hit one to Hailey Leonard at first. The hit off her glove and she reco...

Vanessa Rubio - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech Panthers used two big innings to make quick work of the Eckerd Tritons on Friday in game one of a Senior Day doubleheader. Makayla Palmer went 3-for-4 at the dish, Vanessa Rubio hit two homers and Krista Patterson added one of her own in a 13-3 win over Eckerd at Nancy Bottge Field on Friday afternoon. The Panthers jumped on Eckerd starter Grace Willeck for six runs in the bottom of the second inning. Palmer led off with a single and came home on Patterson’s two-run shot to center. Rubio went back-to-back, hitting her first of the day and giving the home team a 3-0 lead. Willeck continued to struggle, walking Kaitlin Buchholz , hitting Karina Suicava with a pitch and giving up a single to Hailey Leonard . Willick was able to get Sarah Hayes on strikes, before giving way to Madison Saltzman with one out in the inning. The pitching change didn’t do much good, as Alexus Smith drilled a double to th...

Makayla Palmer - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography Florida Tech battled back from a couple early deficits on Thursday, but couldn’t push the tying run across, as Eckerd hung on for a 9-8 victory in game one of the Panthers final home series of the season. Florida Tech starter Rachel Pence got out of a little bit of trouble in the first and came back to strike out two batters in the second inning, before running into trouble in the third. An RBI single by Chelsea Armstrong made it 1-0 and two batters later, Carrie Shere took Pence deep, giving the visitors a 4-0 lead. The Panthers (23-23, 8-11 SSC) got back into the game in the bottom of the fourth, scoring three runs against Tritons starter Nikole Van Gennep. Makayla Palmer started the inning with a single and went to second on a single by Vanessa Rubio .  Julianna Goldberg ’s double plated Palmer, making it 4-1. A single by Karina Suicava brought Rubio in, cutting the lead to 4-2 and a steal of second by Suic...

Tereza Sedlakova - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Eckerd Tritons (26-4) showed why they are the number one team in the Sunshine State Conference and number one in the South Region, as they took down the Florida Tech Panthers 77-56 in Sunday’s SSC title game. The Panthers (15-14) were a game bunch to say the least, but they were outscored 24-8 in the second quarter and the uphill climb from a 40-26 halftime deficit, just proved to be more than they could handle. Tereza Sedlakova led Florida Tech with 15 points, going a perfect 6-for-6 from the field including one three pointer. She also pulled down eight rebounds. DeLise Williams finished with 14 points, six rebounds, one block and four steals. DeLise Williams - Photo credit: - James Ragan Photography Florida Tech trailed by as many as six, 16-10 in the first quarter, but hoops by Williams, Sedlakova and two free-throws and a shot at the buzzer by Michaela Gelbaugh , helped the Panthers finish the...

Jordan Majors - Photo credit : James Ragan Photography Wednesday was what’s known as an Athletes Supporting Athletes night at the Clemente Center and the crowd showed up in a big way. Unfortunately, the FIT men fell short, losing to the Eckerd College Tritons, 92-87 at the Clemente Center. “There’s no coach in the country that’s more appreciative of his student body than I was tonight,” said Panthers coach Billy Mims. “I wish we could’ve completed the comeback. It was a great game because of the crowd. The sixth man deserves a tremendous amount of credit.” That crowd had a lot to cheer early, as three-pointers from Sam Daniel and Jordan Majors had the Panthers up 6-0, 50 seconds into the game. Robert Booth followed that with a dunk, before Trevon Young finally got the Tritons on the board with a jumper 2:33 into the contest. Majors led the Panthers with 24 points and Daniel and Derek Murphy had 15. Patrick Anderson finished with 14, putting four Panthers in double...

DeLise Williams - Photo credit: James Ragan Photography The Florida Tech women dropped their third straight game on Wednesday night, falling to the Eckerd Tritons 67-52 at the Clemente Center.  “In the last five minutes, the team the wanted it more, went and got it,” said Panthers head coach John Reynolds. “That’s the game in a nutshell.” DeLise Williams led the Panthers with 14 points and three assists, while Michaela Gelbaugh scored 10 points. Julie McCarthy and Tereza Sedlakova had six boards each for the Panthers. The Panthers (9-10, 4-8 in SSC) struggled in the first half, shooting 37.5% (9-for-24) and were struggling to dig out of the hole that created, the rest of the night. Their shooting did not improve in the second half, as they were 6-for-27 (22.2%), but their defense did. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late. In the first quarter, Florida Tech got a three-point play by Gelbaugh with two minutes left and a three-pointer from Markeema...

The Florida Tech soccer teams were victimized by surprising results in Tuesday’s opening round of the Sunshine State Conference tournament, with both the men and women dropping their respective games. The men lost to Eckerd, 3-1, while the Barry Buccaneers made their first half goal stand up, against the women. The men’s result was particularly surprising, considering that they had beaten the Tritons twice in the regular season, winning 3-2 on September 17 and 5-1 on October 18. Adin Kavara , who scored three times in the second meeting, scored the only goal for the Panthers on Tuesday, but his goal came in the 81 st minute and only helped his team avoid a shutout. The Panthers (11-4-1, 6-4-0 SSC) outshot Eckerd 16-13, but Tritons goaltender was only forced to make four saves on the night. Panthers backstop Christian Moerch , made five saves in the loss. One save he couldn’t make came at the 30:13 mark when Matheus Assumpcao beat him on a low shot of a pass fro...

The Florida Tech Panthers won the battle of unbeatens on Saturday at Rick Stottler Field, taking down the Eckerd Tritons 3-2 in a Sunshine State Conference Men’s Soccer showdown. The Panthers (3-0-1, 1-0) fired 19 shots, with seven of them on goal. In contrast, Eckerd had only six. Florida Tech’s Sam Sawyer got the home team on the board first at 13:06, beating Eckerd goalie Alex Gott. The assist went to Josh Thomas . The Tritons (5-1, 1-1) were in good position to tie things up when Sawyer picked up a yellow card at 30:36, resulting in a penalty kick for Matheus Assumpcao. Florida Tech goalie Christian Moerch was up to the task, diving to his right and getting the save. Unfortunately for the Panthers, Assumpcao was in position to pick up the rebound and he drove it past Moerch, tying the game at one. Florida Tech kept up the pressure getting two corner kicks in the 33 rd minute, by Josh Thomas and Luca Campanini 14 seconds apart. They did not convert, but in the 42 ...