Leesburg, Fla. – Four games in two days was the task at hand for the Lake-Sumter State College softball team. A busy weekend for sure, but a successful one as well.
Palm Beach State College played host Saturday afternoon for the Lakehawks. Game one was a tightly contested ball game with four lead changes and extra innings necessary. Abbey Primavera got the start in the circle and pitched extremely well. The freshman went six innings allowing just one earned run and tallied six strikeouts, but did not factor into the decision.
After seven innings, the game remained knotted up at 2-2. Beginning in the eighth, both teams started their last batted out at second base. LSSC and PBSC each exchanged one run, moving the game to the ninth. Rachel Phelps got the top of the inning going stealing third base on the first pitch. Taylor Turner walked and proceeded to swipe second base, setting up two runners in scoring position. Lauryn Markis drove in both Lakehawks with a single up the middle.
The defense came out and did its job allowing just the one run from second base. Allie Geier was the pitcher of record grabbing her second win of the season in the 5-4 victory.
Game two was an offensive outburst for Lake-Sumter. Nine hits and four walks led to 12 runs and a five inning run-rule shortened game. Taylor Dotson and Phelps combined for four hits, four RBIs and three runs scored. Jasmine McQuaig boasted a career high nine strikeouts in the 12-1 win.
LSSC took on Broward College the next day. Both teams came out swinging early on. A three run top of the sixth inning put the Lakehawks up 8-5. BSC battled back with four runs of their own in the bottom half to go up 9-8. The bats could not scrape across another run in the seventh and Lake-Sumter fell, 9-8.
The fourth and final game of the weekend was another high scoring affair for the Lakehawks. The offense unloaded for 10 runs on 13 hits and five walks. Ernie Murphy was the winning pitcher going four innings allowing one run. Erin Huffman shut down the BSC offense with a clean fifth inning helping her team to the 10-1 win.
After faltering during a six game losing stretch, Lake-Sumter has won their last 6 of 7 averaging seven runs a contest over that span. Nini Underwood continues to swing the bat well during her freshman campaign. The shortstop is top 10 in the state in hits (27), doubles (10), stolen bases (16) and runs scored (22). Ferguson and Markis are both having great seasons at the plate as well, hitting .367 and .345 respectfully.
Kaitlyn Van Buren continues to hold onto her perfect 3-0 record in the circle through nine appearances. Primavera leads the pitching staff with a 1.63 ERA while McQuaig has totaled 28 strikeouts in five starts.
LSSC returns home this week for a six game set. South Florida State will come into Clermont to take on the Lakehawks at NTC Thursday. On Friday, Broward will head north for a double header against Lake-Sumter, again at NTC. All contests at NTC are 4:30 pm and 6:30 pm start times. Saturday will mark the return to the Leesburg campus when Palm Beach State comes to town. Game times are noon and 2 pm.