The Pensacola State softball team traveled to Longwood, Florida for the Courtney Miller Invitational this past weekend. The no. 19 nationally ranked Pirates came out strong on the first day and won both games before dropping the final two games on Sunday. Continue reading below for individual game recaps.
PSC 10 Polk State 0 (6 innings)
Jorja Barrett did not allow a single run as Pensacola defeated Polk State in their first game on Saturday.
The Pirates opened up the scoring in the first inning when Susanna Soldi singled and stole second base to set up being driven in by Tori Fletcher.
The scoring continued in the second innings when Raquel Latta was hit by a pitch and Ellie Hansen walked to put runners on. Madison Myers singled to left field to plate one run and a sacrifice fly from Soldi made it 3-0.
A triple from Ashley Valencia kicked off the third inning and she scored on a sacrifice fly from Shaylan Whatman.
The defense and pitching were strong all game for the Pirates. Up until the fifth inning Polk only had two runners reach base and when they threatened in the fifth with runners on first and second with no outs the Pirates turned a 5-6-4 double play to stymie them.
Pensacola pushed across six runs in the sixth inning with a highlight being a 2-RBI single from Ana Reyes.
Jorja Barrett threw a complete game and picked up her eighth win of the season while only allowing two hits.
Shaylan Whatman was 2-for-3 with two RBI's while Madison Myers and Tori Fletcher both added two hits each. Eleven out of twelve Pensacola batters in the game reached base safely.
PSC 6 State College of FL-Manatee 2
Pensacola took the lead late in the last game of Saturday and took down State College of Florida for the second time this season.
Manatee used a triple and passed ball to take a 2-0 lead in the second inning.
The Pirates responded in the top of the third when Sajarie Jones walked and scored on a groundout from Tori Fletcher.
They pulled even in the fourth when Shaylan Whatman drew a walk and easily scored on a triple to left field from Ellie Hansen.
After the second inning the defense was locked in and strong behind Tori Fletcher and only one runner made it past second base.
The Pirate offense opened things up in the sixth inning when Whatman walked and advanced to second on Monique Poitevin's single. Whatman stole third when Manatee tried to pick off Poitevin and scored on Hansen's ground ball to short. With two outs an error allowed Poitevin to score and then Susanna Soldi doubled to score the final two runs.
Tori Fletcher improved her record to 6-0 as she went the distance in the circle and scattered five hits while only allowing one earned run.
College of Central FL 10 PSC 0 (6 innings)
The Pirates struggled to get their offense going Sunday against no. 2 nationally ranked College of Central Florida (CF).
The game was scoreless in the bottom of the second when CF led off with a triple and evenually loaded the bases with no outs. That's when the Patriot batter smacked a line drive in the 5-6 hole that shortstop Ellie Hansen caught fully extended on the run and dove into third to double up the runner. Tori Fletcher struck out the next batter to end the threat.
It was still 0-0 in the fourth when CF used a double and error to open the scoring. With a runner on third, Ashley Valencia caught a fly ball in right field and nailed the runner at the plate who was attempting to tag. Regrettably, the umpire called obstruction and the run was allowed and CF had a 3-0 lead.
Pensacola threatened in the bottom of the fifth when Monique Poitevin and Ellie Hansen hit back-to-back singles, but neither would cross homeplate.
The Patriots used a combination of errors and hits to extend their lead to 10-0 going into the bottom of the sixth. The Pirates fought to extend the game in the bottom of the sixth when Susanna Soldi and Maddy Childs picked up back-to-back singles, but a groundout ended the game.
Tori Fletcher suffered her first loss of the season as she threw a complete game and struck out six while only allowing two earned runs.
PSC 2 Santa Fe 5
Pensacola watched the game slip away early and could not recover in the final game against Santa Fe.
Santa Fe led by four in the fifth inning before the Pirates were able to get on the board.
Sajarie Jones and Madison Myers both singled and were driven in by Tori Fletcher. Unfortunately, those were the only runs the Pirates could push across.
Jones was 2-for-3 in the game while Myers was 2-for-4 with a double.
Jorja Barrett struck out three and allowed two earned runs as she struggled to find a flow on the rubber.
The Pirates are sitting at 15-4 and will be back in action next Thursday, March 5th when they host Coastal Alabama-South.