The FGCU softball team kicked off its season opener with a double-header on Friday evening – the first game being against Kent State University and the second against Penn State University.
Pitcher Riley Randolph kept the Golden Flash from gaining any runs through seven strikeouts and just a single walk throughout seven innings.
The first inning saw little to no action from either side with Randolph striking out two batters and the third coming from a nicely caught line drive from right field.
It would be an equally as short bottom half, with the Golden Flash second baseman catching two line drives in a row from Kate Kelly and Reedy Davenport and Racquel Fournet, sending a short pop-fly to third base.
Randolph continued to impress in the top of the second, striking out two, while center field caught a line drive for the third out.
The bottom of the second would finally bring some action and the Eagles would earn their first run when Brooke Clemens started out the half with a base hit. A sacrifice bunt from Kyleigh Taylor and a base hit from Mikenzie Vaughn brought Clemens home to put a run on the scoreboard.
There wouldn’t be much action until the bottom of the fifth inning, where FGCU’s Morgan Greco and Kate Kelly would both earn base hits. A sacrifice fly to right field from Reedy Davenport gave Greco the opportunity to run home and give the Eagles their second and final run of the night.
The score remained the same throughout the final two innings, with the Golden Flashes being unable to climb back from their two-point deficit. Thus, the FGCU softball team saw their first win of the season.
The second game would prove to be a bit more challenging for theEagles, with the Penn State Nittany Lions scoring one run on FGCU’s two.
The Lions put the first point on the scoreboard in the top of the first inning, posing a challenge for the Eagles right off the bat. The score remained the same until the bottom of the second, when Marcella Parrado saw her first of two triples in the game and made it home on a sacrifice fly to center field from Farley Callaghan.
Both the Lions and the Eagles remained vigilant in their defensive edge, however, and neither team allowed more than a base hit throughout two and a half innings. The drought ended when Parrado sent another ball deep into right field to earn a second triple. With the help of a bunt from Callaghan, Parrado was sent home to give FGCU their second and final run of the night.
Penn State continued to fight for a chance to send the game into extra innings, but were unable to get past Eagles defense in the final two innings.
The Lions defense was able to prevent the Eagles from gaining an additional lead, however, much due to three strikeouts in a row in the bottom of the sixth.
Regardless of a strong effort from both teams throughout the entirety of the game, FGCU came out on top in the end to win their second game of the night 2-1.
“Two nice wins today,” said head coach David Deiros. “We’re the only undefeated team in the Kickoff Classic and it’s a great feeling to control one’s destiny. Looking forward to competing again tomorrow.”
