Pirates Topped by Northwest

The Pensacola State Pirates watched game one slip away early and could not recover in a 7-2 loss to Northwest Florida (NWF) on Tuesday. 

The Raiders took a 3-0 lead in the first inning and the Pirates did not get on the board until the third inning when Danielle de Ruiter scored on a passed ball. In the fourth inning Alexandra Verardi drove in the Pirates second run of the game with a ground ball to deep short. Unfortunately that would be the last run of the game for PSC as they stranded 11 runners on base in the game. 

Six different Pirates collected hits in the game with Kaeleen Koehler leading the way going 1-for-2 with two walks.

Game two turned into a slugfest as the two teams combined for 22 hits and 17 runs. Despite a 4-run deficit in the third inning PSC almost came all the way back, but eventually fell 9-8. 

The Pirates kicked the scoring off in the first when a double from Alexis Guzman plated one run and then a single up the middle from Jensen Strickland gave PSC a 2-0 lead. The Raiders responded in their half of the inning by plating three runs to take the lead. After NWF made the score 4-2 in the bottom of the second the Pirates added a run in the top of the third when Strickland drove in another run with a fielder's choice to make it 4-3. 

The Raiders proceeded to put up three runs in their half of the inning to give them a 7-3 lead. 

Both teams cooled off in the fourth and fifth innings before the Pirates used a 5-run sixth to take the lead. Koehler started things by driving in Lia Johnson with a single to right field before a fielder's choice from Guzman gave the Pirates their fifth run. An RBI-single from Strickland pulled the Pirates within one run and then a double off the wall in center from Brittney Rayfield gave PSC an 8-7 lead. 

NWF did not waste any time in their half of the inning and used a hit by pitch and error to set the table for the game tying single. They eventually took the lead on a sacrifice fly to left field. The Pirates stranded the tying run on first base in the seventh and the game ended. 

Koehler was a stellar 4-for-4 at the plate with an RBI while Strickland was 2-for-3 with three RBI's. Guzman and Rayfield both collected a pair of doubles and RBI's in the game. 

The Pirates will host Chipola at home of Friday, March 30 at 4:00 and 6:00 pm.