DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The Embry-Riddle softball team continued their hot hitting from Friday night as they capped off a perfect weekend at the ERAU Softball Stadium, defeating Lynn by scores of 6-1 and 6-2 to open Sunshine State Conference play with a 3-0 mark.
In the opener, the Eagles (6-2, 3-0) took an early 1-0 lead in their first at-bats of the day, as
Lisa Hop singled up the middle to score
Maggie Scott after she led off with a single and stole second base.
Following a scoreless second inning, the Blue & Gold were able to push across two runs in the third. With
ReAnne Drayton at the plate and runners at second and third and two away, a wild pitch allowed Scott to score, and moments later a triple to right center allowed
Lia Johnson to come home and make it a 3-0 ballgame.
Lynn (6-7, 0-3) scored their only run of the game in the fifth inning, as Natalie Costero crossed home when Lexi Butler coaxed a based-loaded walk with two outs in the inning.
The Eagles would get that run right back in the bottom of the inning as Hop would double to the left center gap to allow Scott to score for the third time in the game. Two more runs would score for the home team in the sixth inning, as this time Scott was the one standing at the plate as she lined one into center to bring
Jamie Mead and
Lauren Latoria across to make it 6-1.
Kelsi Collins (2-1) earned the win in the circle, allowing one run on four hits and striking out a season-best nine Fighting Knights along the way. Scott turned in a 4-4 game, scoring three times and driving in two, while Hop went 2-3 with a pair of RBI.
Lauren Latoria collected the first hit of college career in the contest, and was joined in the hit column by Drayton and Ramos.
Allyson Jameston (4-1) took the loss for Lynn, giving up six runs, five earned, on nine hits and striking out two. Costero had two of the four hits in the game for the Fighting Knights, while Emily Yakel and Bailey Fernandez had one each.
In the series finale, the Eagles once again used a big first inning to give starting pitcher
Jayla Jackson an early lead to work with.
Maggie Scott and
Lia Johnson led the inning off with back to back singles, with Scott coming around to score on a throwing error by the Lynn third baseman following Johnson's single.
ReAnne Drayton made it 2-0 for the home team when she grounded out to shortstop to score Johnson form third.
Katy Thompson would restart things with an infield single to shortstop, and was followed by a
Jamie Mead walk.
Michy Ramos would bring both runs in when she doubled to right field and make it a 4-0 game. Ramos would score the final run of the inning when the lineup rolled over and Scott worked a bases-loaded walk to force home the inning's fifth run.
The Fighting Knights would break through for their first run the third inning, as Lexi Butler came across after she drew a two-out walk and was followed by back-to-back singles by Emily Yakel and Kayla Sheffield.
ERAU added one more run in the fourth inning, as Mead once again drew a bases-loaded walk to bring home
Lisa Hop and make it a 6-1 game.
Lynn would score once in the seventh inning, as Sheffield grounded out to first base with bases loaded to bring in Brittney Davis.
Hop (2-0) earned the win in relief of Jackson, as she worked the final four frames of the contest, allowing a run on four hits and striking out a pair. Jackson surrendered a run on two hits and also struck out two in her three innings of work. Scott went 3-3 with a run batted in and run scored, as six different players scored and seven players recorded base hits in the game.
Sheffield (2-3) took her second loss of the series, lasting just 2/3 of an inning and allowing five runs on five hits. Amelia Saviskas was solid in relief for Lynn, allowing just one run on three hits over her four innings. Allyson Jameston worked the final 1 1/3 innings and allowed just two baserunners. Yakel went 2-4, while Sheffield had both RBI in the game. Bailey Fernandez, Brittney Davis and Aymee Godmaire had the remainder of the hits for Lynn.
Embry-Riddle Head Coach
Kelsi Dunne recorded the 150th win of her coaching career with the win in game one Saturday. Dunne, who came to ERAU ahead of the 2015 season, now has a career record of 150-90 overall and 40-23 in league play. The former Alabama standout has led the Eagles to at least 25 wins each season since taking over, including a pair of 30-win seasons in 2016 and 2018. Embry-Riddle advanced to their first-ever NCAA South Regional under Dunne in 2018 in the program's first season of post-season eligibility once becoming a full-member of NCAA Division II.
On deck for the Eagles, the travel to Miami Shores this weekend for a Sunshine State Conference series with Barry. Game one is set for Friday at 7 p.m., with a doubleheader Saturday set for a 1 p.m. start.
