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Box Score 2 CLEARWATER – Polk State Softball led by at least three runs in each game of its Suncoast Conference-opening doubleheader against St. Petersburg College on Tuesday. Unfortunately for the Eagles, they failed to return home with a victory.
Polk State (13-16, 0-2 Suncoast Conference) dropped a pair of contests to the Titans, falling 7-4 and 9-7. In both games, the offense came early. Defensive miscues again reared their ugly head in the losses.
"Our pitchers left the ball up in the zone and our defense was not able to handle the speed of St. Petersburg," Polk State Head Coach
Mark Skapin said. "They were able to force a lot of mistakes and they did a good job of capitalizing on them."
A bizarre three-run fifth inning for St. Petersburg was ultimately Polk State's undoing in the first game. Dani DiBenedetto, Sammy Wilson, and Emma Blatchley all came up with RBI singles in the inning for the Titans to take a 6-4 lead.
It appeared as though the Eagles had gotten out of the inning trailing by just a run, but umpires ruled that Polk State did not report one of its fielding changes. Following a 25-minute delay, Blatchley was given a second chance after previously grounding out to end the inning and instead plated a run.
Polk State had regained the lead in the top of the fifth inning on an RBI double from
Kailey Guethle that scored
Alma Fernandez to make it 4-3. It was Fernandez's second run scored of the game.
The Eagles drew first blood in the second on a sacrifice fly by
Jillian Hudson to score
Alexis Thomas. They pushed two more runs across in the top of the third inning on RBI doubles from Fernandez and Thomas.
St. Petersburg drew even in the fourth with the help from some defensive breakdowns by Polk State. A fielding error and a pair of errant throws allowed the Titans to score three in the frame. They would add an insurance run in the sixth.
In the second game, Polk State got all of its offense early. Guethle got the scoring started with an RBI single up the middle in the first inning before Thomas' sacrifice fly brought home another run later in the frame.
St. Petersburg responded with three runs in the bottom of the inning but the Eagles bounced back with five runs in the second.
Kanitria Antenor was hit with the bases loaded to tie the game before Fernandez rolled a two-run single up the middle. Guethle and Thomas then came through with back-to-back RBI singles to push the lead to 7-3.
From there, the Titans were able to chip away. After plating two runs in the bottom of the second, St. Petersburg went ahead for good with three runs in the third.
Karleigh Curtis' infield RBI single off the glove of Polk State pitcher
Kyra Ward tied the game, 7-7. A misplay at second base off the bat of Abbey Dickson allowed the go-ahead run to score. Polk State managed just four baserunners over the final five innings, but that was neutralized by a caught stealing and an inning-ending double play in the sixth.
"I was pleased with how we hit the ball for the most part," Skapin added. "I was disappointed that we didn't make better adjustments late in games after seeing pitchers multiple times."
Polk State will aim for its first Suncoast Conference win as it returns home to take on Hillsborough Community College in a doubleheader on Friday. First pitch for game one is set for 5 p.m.
"Our players now know these teams are going to fight for this conference championship," Skapin said. "They are going to have to take their intensity up a notch if they want to qualify for the state tournament."
