Jacksonville, Fla. – Stetson Softball put together a dominant performance on Saturday, sweeping a doubleheader against Jacksonville without ever trailing. The Hatters took game one 7-3 and followed it up with an offensive explosion in game two, cruising to a 10-0 win in just five innings.
In the opener,
Kennedy Temples earned the win to improve to 4-4 on the season. She tossed 3.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits while walking five and striking out one.
After three scoreless innings, Stetson broke through in the top of the fourth.
Dylan Anthony and
Annabella McClerren led off with back-to-back singles, and
Irianis Garcia loaded the bases with another. With two outs,
Addison Foster delivered the big blow — a bases-clearing triple to give the Hatters a 3-0 lead.
Jacksonville got one run back in the bottom half, prompting a pitching change as
Caitlyn Kulczyski entered to shut things down. In the sixth, Stetson added three more insurance runs. McClerren was hit by a pitch, and Garcia reached on an error. Foster then roped a 2-RBI double — her second extra-base hit of the game — and
Kami Eppley reached on an error to bring in another run, making it 6-1.
The Dolphins responded with two runs in the bottom of the sixth, but Stetson answered in the seventh with an RBI double from McClerren, scoring Anthony to extend the lead to 7-3. Kulczyski closed out the game to secure the win.
In game two, the Hatters wasted no time, scoring four runs in the top of the first before
Ava Braswell even took the mound. Braswell improved to 9-2 with four shutout innings, allowing just four hits and one walk while striking out three.
Foster led off with a walk and was tripled home by Eppley.
Amber Chumley followed with an RBI single, and after Anthony and McClerren reached base,
Riley Venn brought in two more with a single to make it 4-0.
Stetson doubled its lead in the third. McClerren smashed a double, and Synoracki followed with an infield single and a stolen base. Napoli brought in a run with a single, and Foster walked to load the bases. Eppley then crushed her second triple of the game, clearing the bases to make it 8-0.
In the fifth, Eppley capped off her huge day with a 2-RBI double, scoring McClerren and Venn for a 10-0 lead.
Caitlin Mullen pitched the final inning, allowing two hits to close out the run-rule victory.
Foster finished the day 2-for-5 with four walks and five RBIs, while Eppley went 5-for-9 with three extra-base hits and six RBIs.
Stetson and Jacksonville will wrap up the weekend series on Sunday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m.
