No.18 Lakehawks Ride Blue Wave to Victory

LEESBURG, Fla. (Softball) – The Lake-Sumter State College (LSSC) softball secured another Sun-Lakes Conference sweep on Tuesday afternoon with a pair of wins over Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ).  

Game One – Lake-Sumter 8, FSCJ 6

Game one was a back-and-forth thriller from the first inning between the Lakehawks and the Blue Wave.

Lake-Sumter took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after Reese Snipes was able to capitalize on an outfield error, turning a single into the first run of the game.

FSCJ put two runs on the board in the top of the second with five hits and a walk, but Lake-Sumter tied it back up after adding a run in the bottom of the third.

Alexis Adams blasted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth to bring the Lakehawk lead to 4-2.

The Blue Wave added two more runs in the top of the fifth to tie the score back at 4-4.

The score remained tied until the bottom of the sixth when Raquel Camuglia joined in with a two-run homerun, her seventh of the season.

Kreighton Steinke got on base next by drawing a walk and Adams stepped up with her second two-run home run of the game, her fifth of the season.

The Lakehawks led the Blue Wave 8-4 headed to the seventh. FSCJ tried to come back but Camuglia and Adams' efforts kept the victory out of reach.

Freshman Elizabeth Auciello recorded the win in game one with 1.2 innings pitched after she entered in relief of starting pitcher Ali Shenefield. Auciello allowed just two runs on four hits improving her record to 5-1.

Shenefield recorded the save re-entering the game in the seventh inning for Auciello, her second of the season.

Game Two – Lake-Sumter 4, FSCJ 3

FSCJ came out swinging in game two taking a 3-0 lead from the top of the first.

In the Lakehawk half of the frame, Desiree Romeo led off the inning with a single and a stolen base. Then Molly Bender reached on a walk.

Reese Snipes hit a single up the middle to score Romeo and a sac fly by Adams scored Bender.

The Lakehawks tied the game up in the bottom of the fourth with a double by Tatum McGrath to scored Darian Pippin from second.

With the score tied in the bottom of the sixth, Adams led off the inning with a single. Bella Baez entered the game to pinch run.

Alex Baez stepped up with a double in the gap to score her sister for the go-ahead run which became the game winner after Pippin shut down the Blue Wave for the sixth straight inning.

Pippin recorded the complete-game win on the mound, her tenth win of the season. She held the Blue Wave offense to three runs, zero after the first inning, on 10 hits and one walk with three strikeouts.

The Lakehawks improved to 30-12 overall, becoming just the third team in program history to reach 30 wins on a season, and 4-0 in conference play. FSCJ fell to 13-14 overall, 3-3 in conference play.

Up next for the Lakehawks

The Lakehawks will host Sun-Lakes Conference opponent South Florida State College for a double header on Saturday, April 1 at 1:00 and 3:00 p.m.

Prior to Saturday's double header will be the traditional Sophomore Day celebration to honor Tatum McGrath, Darian Pippin, Desiree Romeo, Reese Snipes, Ali Shenefield, Mia Lovett, Kreighton Steinke, Makenzi Heaton, Raquel Camuglia.

Live stream video will be available to those who cannot attend.

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