JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The softball team of Jacksonville University stumbled twice against Florida Gulf Coast Friday at the Debbie and Fred Pruitt Softball Complex, but still kept pace for third place in the Atlantic Sun standings with just one game left in the regular season.
Victoria Brown started the first game and hit a homer, but it wasn't enough to carry the Dolphins in the first game of the senior day doubleheader. In the second game fellow senior Taylor Rossman got the start, but again the Dolphins couldn't prevail.
FGCU 8, Jacksonville 1
The scoring didn't start until the second inning, when the Eagles used two singles and a sac fly to put one across. After two innings Jacksonville trailed FGCU 0-1.
FGCU struck again in the top of the third, using a three-run homer and a two-run homer to put five across. After three innings Jacksonville trailed FGCU 0-6.
The Eagles scored once more in the top of the fourth with their third homer of the game, but Paige Curtis was able to force a line out, a fly out, and a ground out to limit the damage. Brown got her revenge in the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer, putting the Dolphins on the board. After four innings Jacksonville trailed 1-7.
FGCU got its last run in the top of the fifth with some more small ball, using a walk, a groundout, and a deep single to get its eighth run across the plate. Neither team scored again, though the Dolphins came close to scoring in the bottom of the fifth by putting Kristen Griffith and Ciara Jones on base. But the Dolphins hit into a fielder's choice and fouled out to the catcher, ending the threat. The final score: Jacksonville 1, FGCU 8.
FGCU 5, Jacksonville 0
FGCU drew blood early in the second game, putting a run across on three singles. Jacksonville loaded the bases with just one out, but stranded all three runners. After one, the Dolphins trailed 0-1.
The Eagles used a two-run double to increase their advantage to three runs in the top of the second, then two more doubles to drive in two runs in the third. Neither team scored in the fourth or fifth inning, but the FGCU bats came alive again in the sixth. The Eagles used four doubles in the just the sixth inning to score three more runs, forcing the run-shortened conclusion. The final after six innings: Jacksonville 0, FGCU 8.
The Dolphins face the Eagles one more time Saturday in the concluding game of the regular season. The Dolphins can finish as high as third or as low as fifth depending on the outcome of their final game.
