WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Polk State Softball got in the Suncoast Conference win column for the first time this season, splitting a doubleheader on Thursday evening with St. Petersburg College. The Eagles fell to the Titans 5-1 in game one before surpassing SPC 4-1 in the second contest.
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Polk (14-21, 1-7 Suncoast) snapped a seven-game losing streak and equaled last season's win total with the game two victory; the Titans, on the other hand, (25-14, 6-2 Suncoast) saw their three-game win streak erased.
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GAME ONE:
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The Titans scored their first two runs in the top of the first and third frames directly off errors to build a 2-0 lead. An RBI single up the middle by Sammy Wilson in the top of the fourth grew their advantage to 3-0.
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A SPC throwing error in the bottom of the fourth allowed
Alma Fernandez to score the lone run for the Eagles after she led off the inning with a single to left-center.
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Kelsey Kadlub smacked her seventh home run of the season for the Titans in the top of the fifth, a two-run shot to center, to grow the St. Petersburg lead to 5-1 and ice the game for the Titans.
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Polk starter
Baileigh Herrera logged the full seven frames in the circle, with three earned runs conceded and two strikeouts logged.
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GAME TWO:
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The Titans took the early 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Dani DiBenedetto scored from third as the Eagles were attempting to throw out a SPC baserunner stealing second.
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Polk found the equalizer in the bottom of the frame when
Alexis Thomas led off the inning with a solo homer to right-center — her team best second long ball of the season.
Jenna Satterfield put the Eagles ahead later in the inning via a sacrifice fly to to left field that scored
Emma Hart.
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The Eagles received another leadoff homer in the bottom of the third, as
Kanitria Antenor rocketed her first dinger of the season over the right field wall to grow the Polk lead to 3-1.
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Making her first start of the season,
Jacey Bisbee battled in the circle for Polk and gave the Eagles a chance. The Titusville native held the Titans to 2-for-8 at the plate with runners on over 3.2 innings tossed. The duo of Herrera and
Kyra Ward combined to relive Bisbee with 2.1 innings of scoreless relief, conceding just two hits and one walk. Herrera earned the win, her fourth of the season.
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"I'm so proud of Jacey stepping up when the team needed her to give us some much needed quality innings," said Polk State Head Coach
Mark Skapin. "She threw them off with her changeup and put us in a position to win. Baileigh and Kyra did a great job in relief as we mixed and matched to find a way to get a long overdue win."
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Suheily Mercado blasted the third home run of the game for Polk in the bottom of the fourth with two outs, taking a hefty swing on a 3-0 pitch that bounced off and over the top of the left field fence to make it 4-2 Eagles.
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The three home runs in game two eclipsed the season total of two for the Eagles coming in. Polk State will play its next six games away from the Diamond Plex, beginning on Tuesday with a doubleheader at Hillsborough Community College.
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