"We came away with two good wins even if they were very different results," said head coach Mandy Schuerman. "It speaks a lot to Palm Beach State and their competitive nature after game one. They could have just given it up, but they really fought hard in game two and put some hits together when they needed to with a great approach in game two. Regardless, we got two solid wins."
Game One:
Schuerman sent sophomore Megan Seeds to the mound, while PBSC head coach Hudson McCall sent sophomore Katelyn Allen to counter.
After a scoreless first inning, the Manatees got on the board first in the bottom of the second. Beginning with a one out single from sophomore Cheyenne Nunez before stealing second, freshman Lauren Bostwick would send Nunez home with a hard single to center to make it 1-0. This would set up a two-run blast to left for freshman Madi LoCastro to make it 3-0. This was LoCastro's fifth home run of the season.
The bottom of the fifth continued to be on the side for SCF. Beginning with a one-out walk drawn by freshman Alexis Bridges, fellow freshman Madelyn Graham, who came off of a seven RBI series against Kalamazoo Valley Monday, sent a two-run shot to left to make it 5-0 SCF. This was her third home run of the season.
After back-to-back singles from Nunez and freshman Nicci Palumbo, freshman Sabrina Long would send Palumbo home with a double to left to make it 6-0 SCF. After freshman Lauren Bostwick sent Nunez with an RBI groundout, LoCastro would seal the deal and bring in the final run with an RBI single that sent Long home.
Seeds would end up with her second win of the season after a one-hit shutout with one walk and eight strikeouts.
"I felt pretty good today," said Seeds on her performance. "I've been working on working ahead in the count, which is something I was struggling with lately and I tend to give up walks too often. So today, I just tried to work for my team while trying to stay consistent and I just did my best for my team."
"(Megan) Seeds really stepped it up in the circle today," said Schuerman on Seeds' performance. "She really did a good job adjusting to pound in the zone, which is something that really her effectiveness, pitching wise, has always been there as far as hits, which a lot of people don't hit off her very hard, if at all. Her focus is to pound the zone and not give up so many free passes, and she really nailed that today, which led to the success of her shutout and that was huge."
Allen would be credited with her sixth loss of the season after throwing 2.2 innings, giving up all eight runs on nine hits with one walk. Freshman Destiny Cornelius threw 1.1 scoreless innings.
Nunez and LoCastro finished with two hits each with Nunez adding two runs and a stolen base while LoCastro added three RBI. In fact, LoCastro's home run was hit on her father's birthday in which she said that she "hit it for the old man" referring to her father, Joe, who was in attendance.
"The first game went very well," said LoCastro. "Megan (Seeds) was killing it. She was doing great and I think we all just wanted to have her back and prove it on hitting and we strung hits very good together."
"Getting out of a slump is pretty exciting," LoCastro said on breaking her slump. "I think it's mostly just about that it's all in your head. You kind of just have to go up to the box and just hit. It sounds simple because it is simple, but it really felt good to get out of the slump."
Graham and Bostwick joined LoCastro with a multi-RBI game as they finished with two RBI each.
For Palm Beach State, sophomore Lauran Meadow had the lone hit in the first inning.
Game Two:
Schuerman sent freshman Ashley Zientek to the mound while McCall sent freshman Sydney Kadur to counter.
The Panthers would get on the board first at the top of the first after an RBI groundout from sophomore Leah Carman, but the Manatees would then answer back in the bottom of the second from a hard ground ball hit by Bostwick that sent Long home to tie the game at 1-1.
Zientek and Kadur were in a pitcher's dual, but then the Manatees would get Kadur to buckle as Nunez sent Seeds home with a single to make it 2-1 SCF in the bottom of the fifth.
Meanwhile Zientek was holding her own to the seventh inning, but after giving up a final one out single to Meadow, Schuerman would turn to the bullpen and send freshman Kailey Christian to the mound. After the change, Palm Beach would tie the game up from an RBI double from sophomore Andrea Granados before going into extra innings.
At the top of the eighth, with the Texas Tiebreaker rule in effect and freshman Taylor Hansel on second, Christian threw a wild pitch that sent Hansel to third, but had little effect as the Lakewood Ranch native got out of the eighth with no problems.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Manatees were able to pull it together to go for the win. With Bridges on second per the tiebreaker rule, sophomore Haley McFadden would make a sacrifice bunt and send Bridges to third, but a costly baserunning mistake from Bridges caused a second out while Palumbo reached first on fielder's choice. After Long hit a single to left to move Palumbo to second, Bostwick would hit a pop fly to center that caused a Meadow to make a fielding error which helped Palumbo score the game-winning run for SCF.
Zientek would earn a no decision after throwing 6.1 innings, giving up both runs on five hits while walking four and striking out eight.
Christian would be credited with the win after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings and giving up one hit with three strikeouts. In fact, Christian's three "K"s put her at 115 for the season as she passed Jill McElderry (112) for most strikeouts under the Schuerman era. Christian needs six to pass Devon Morrison (122) for most strikeouts under the Schuerman era. Christian is now at 12-1.
Kadur would earn her eighth loss after throwing 7.2 innings, giving up all three runs (one earned) on six hits while walking four and striking out two.
Despite going 0-for-2 in game two, LoCastro finished the series 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk.
"(Megan) Seeds really stepped it up in the circle today," said Schuerman on Seeds' performance. "She really did a good job adjusting to pound in the zone, which is something that really her effectiveness, pitching wise, has always been there as far as hits, which a lot of people don't hit off her very hard, if at all. Her focus is to pound the zone and not give up so many free passes, and she really nailed that today, which led to the success of her shutout and that was huge."
Allen would be credited with her sixth loss of the season after throwing 2.2 innings, giving up all eight runs on nine hits with one walk. Freshman Destiny Cornelius threw 1.1 scoreless innings.
Nunez and LoCastro finished with two hits each with Nunez adding two runs and a stolen base while LoCastro added three RBI. In fact, LoCastro's home run was hit on her father's birthday in which she said that she "hit it for the old man" referring to her father, Joe, who was in attendance.
"The first game went very well," said LoCastro. "Megan (Seeds) was killing it. She was doing great and I think we all just wanted to have her back and prove it on hitting and we strung hits very good together."
"Getting out of a slump is pretty exciting," LoCastro said on breaking her slump. "I think it's mostly just about that it's all in your head. You kind of just have to go up to the box and just hit. It sounds simple because it is simple, but it really felt good to get out of the slump."
Graham and Bostwick joined LoCastro with a multi-RBI game as they finished with two RBI each.
For Palm Beach State, sophomore Lauran Meadow had the lone hit in the first inning.
Game Two:
Schuerman sent freshman Ashley Zientek to the mound while McCall sent freshman Sydney Kadur to counter.
The Panthers would get on the board first at the top of the first after an RBI groundout from sophomore Leah Carman, but the Manatees would then answer back in the bottom of the second from a hard ground ball hit by Bostwick that sent Long home to tie the game at 1-1.
Zientek and Kadur were in a pitcher's dual, but then the Manatees would get Kadur to buckle as Nunez sent Seeds home with a single to make it 2-1 SCF in the bottom of the fifth.
Meanwhile Zientek was holding her own to the seventh inning, but after giving up a final one out single to Meadow, Schuerman would turn to the bullpen and send freshman Kailey Christian to the mound. After the change, Palm Beach would tie the game up from an RBI double from sophomore Andrea Granados before going into extra innings.
At the top of the eighth, with the Texas Tiebreaker rule in effect and freshman Taylor Hansel on second, Christian threw a wild pitch that sent Hansel to third, but had little effect as the Lakewood Ranch native got out of the eighth with no problems.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Manatees were able to pull it together to go for the win. With Bridges on second per the tiebreaker rule, sophomore Haley McFadden would make a sacrifice bunt and send Bridges to third, but a costly baserunning mistake from Bridges caused a second out while Palumbo reached first on fielder's choice. After Long hit a single to left to move Palumbo to second, Bostwick would hit a pop fly to center that caused a Meadow to make a fielding error which helped Palumbo score the game-winning run for SCF.
Zientek would earn a no decision after throwing 6.1 innings, giving up both runs on five hits while walking four and striking out eight.
Christian would be credited with the win after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings and giving up one hit with three strikeouts. In fact, Christian's three "K"s put her at 115 for the season as she passed Jill McElderry (112) for most strikeouts under the Schuerman era. Christian needs six to pass Devon Morrison (122) for most strikeouts under the Schuerman era. Christian is now at 12-1.
Kadur would earn her eighth loss after throwing 7.2 innings, giving up all three runs (one earned) on six hits while walking four and striking out two.
Despite going 0-for-2 in game two, LoCastro finished the series 2-for-4 with two RBI and a walk.
"In the second game, there was energy, but it wasn't as much as the first game, but it went pretty well," said LoCastro on game two.
"Madi Lo has been a a model of consistency for us," said Schuerman on LoCastro's performance. "You could see in game two, she kind of got her swing a little bit too large, but really what works for her and she would continue to do it is that she's so strong seeing the ball in while working on the line drives. It's amazing how that ball comes off her bat so fast."
Long and Nunez went 2-for-4 in game two with Nunez adding an RBI and a stolen base while Long added a run scored. McFadden and sophomore Sydney Parks had the remaining two hits in game two.
Granados was the only Panther with a multi-hit game in game two as she finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Notes:
The Manatees stolen six bases in the series with two coming from Nunez. In fact, Nunez's two stolen bases put her at 41 in her career.
Up Next:
The Manatees will face Broward College (6-5) on Saturday, March 9 at 1 and 3 pm. The series between the two teams is a makeup due to miscommunication with the new coaches.
"Broward is a very tough team with a very good record," said Schuerman on Broward. "So for us to compete every pitch, it doesn't really matter who's sitting on the other side of that dugout, we got to be able to play our Manatee softball and be able to compete in every pitch."
"Madi Lo has been a a model of consistency for us," said Schuerman on LoCastro's performance. "You could see in game two, she kind of got her swing a little bit too large, but really what works for her and she would continue to do it is that she's so strong seeing the ball in while working on the line drives. It's amazing how that ball comes off her bat so fast."
Long and Nunez went 2-for-4 in game two with Nunez adding an RBI and a stolen base while Long added a run scored. McFadden and sophomore Sydney Parks had the remaining two hits in game two.
Granados was the only Panther with a multi-hit game in game two as she finished 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
Notes:
The Manatees stolen six bases in the series with two coming from Nunez. In fact, Nunez's two stolen bases put her at 41 in her career.
Up Next:
The Manatees will face Broward College (6-5) on Saturday, March 9 at 1 and 3 pm. The series between the two teams is a makeup due to miscommunication with the new coaches.
"Broward is a very tough team with a very good record," said Schuerman on Broward. "So for us to compete every pitch, it doesn't really matter who's sitting on the other side of that dugout, we got to be able to play our Manatee softball and be able to compete in every pitch."
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