JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Playing on their home field for the first time since opening day back in February, the Jacksonville University softball team kicked off the JU/UNF Spring Break Challenge by welcoming Georgia State University and the University of Buffalo to the Debbie & Fred Pruitt Softball Complex Friday night. The Dolphins (9-5) used power hitting and power pitching to sweep past the Panthers (8-6) and Bulls (0-10), winning by scores of 5-0 and 10-2 in five innings.
 
In game one, the Dolphins drew first blood when Samantha Poehlman doubled to left center to score Victoria Rodebaugh.
 
JU tacked on two more in the third inning, when Hannah Roberts went deep to left field for a three-run homerun to make it a 4-0 game with two away in the frame.
 
The Dolphins added another run in the fifth on a bizarre sequence. Rodebaugh was caught straying too far off of third base and was picked off when the catcher threw behind her. Kassidy Cross, the runner at second, was making her way back to the bag when the Panthers' pitcher attempted to pick her off as well, but the throw sailed into centerfield and allowed Cross to score and make it 5-0.
 
Alyssa Bilodeau (4-4) stymied the Panthers all night long, allowing just two hits that came in the second and third innings. The senior powered her way to a season-best 13 strikeouts as she worked her second consecutive shutout.
 
Rodebaugh went 3-3 with a pair of runs scored while Poehlman turned in a 2-3 effort. Roberts' big fly was her third of the season and was the big blow in the game.
 
Things started off quiet in the first inning of the nightcap against Buffalo before things erupted in the second inning. Jacksonville sent 12 batters to the plate as they scored eight times in their half of the inning. Caroline Watson got the train rolling when she doubled to left field to score Carolyn O'Neal. Ashley Darakjian split the right center gap to drive in a run as she raced all the way around to third for a triple. Hallie Kern scored Darakjian on a sac fly to right to make it 3-0 with two gone in the inning. Jacksonville then scored five runs Madison Reynolds reached on a single and a throwing error on a ball off the bat of Makenzie Buss gave the offense a second life. Victoria Rodebaugh plated both runners with a shot to the gap in right center that saw her end up on second when the dust settled with the score at 5-0. Kassidy Cross followed with a shot back through the box into center to plate Rodebaugh and make it 6-0. Following a walk to Samantha Poehlman, Hannah Roberts drove a ball into left field to bring home two more Dolphins and make it 8-0.
JU tacked on their ninth run of the night in the third inning, when Reynolds tripled to right field to bring home Ashley Darakjian.
 
Buffalo was able to scratch across two runs in the fourth inning, scoring on an RBI double to the left field corner and on an RBI single back up the middle into centerfield.
 
Jacksonville answered a run in the next half inning to bring the run rule back into effect, as Caroline Watson singled home Cross to make it 10-2.
 
Skylar Whitty (3-1) worked a scoreless fifth inning, getting a lineout double play to end the evening's festivities. Whitty worked three innings in relief of starter Seana Mora, who worked a scoreless two innings to begin the game.
 
Six different players had a hit in the nightcap for JU, with four recording multi-hit efforts led by Darakjian's 3-3 effort that saw her score twice and drive in a run. Reynolds, Roberts and Watson had two hits each, with the latter two each driving in two runs in the win.
 
The Dolphins are scheduled to play USC Upstate and Florida A&M on Saturday afternoon, with the games scheduled for 3:30 PM and 6 PM start times.