DAVIE, Fla.—The Barry Buccaneers jumped all over the Nova Southeastern Shark, then weathered a furious comeback, as they won the opener of a Sunshine State Conference softball series 8-5 at AD Griffin Sports Complex Friday night.
Kayla Monroy went two-for-two with a double and scored three runs, while Grace Collins went two-for-four with a double and three RBI. Brianna Smith (10-4) picked up the win in the circle, going the distance and limiting the hard-hitting Sharks (35-13, 11-5 SSC) to just three hits and one earned run. She walked nine and struck out five.
The Bucs (26-17, 8-5 SSC) grabbed a two-run lead in the second inning. Amanda Goelz led off with a walk and Julia Chongarlides came in to run. After a strikeout, Monroy drilled a single into left field to move Chongarlides. One out later, Amber Durkin lined a shot up the middle the ripped the glove off of pitcher Devin Higginbotham's hand to load the bases, but Higginbotham threw the ball away at first bringing Chongarlides in to score. Sarah Broeseker followed with an RBI single.
In the fourth, Monroy was hit by pitch leading off the inning and bunted to second. Durkin followed with another infield single to put runners at the corner. Broeseker popped a ball up just behind the rubber that fell in the circle for a hit, but Monroy came in and scored when she knocked the ball out of Stephanie Palazzolo's mitt. Collins and Sara Hipson followed with RBI singles.
After giving one run back in the bottom of the fourth, the Bucs plated three more in the fifth that proved to be the difference. Monroy and Cassy Zamora walked with one out and moved up on a passed ball by Palazzolo. With runners at second and third, Durkin hit a hard grounder to Brittney Lamb at first base and Lamb inexplicably tried to come home to get Monroy but threw the ball away. Collins followed one out later with a two-run double into the left-centerfield gap.
The Sharks scored four runs in the sixth, but Smith worked around a one-out walk in seventh by striking out Jessica Hernandez and Dani Caron to end the game.
The series concluded Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 pm. You can catch all the action on the Buccaneer Broadcasting Network.
(04/09/10 at Davie, Fla.)
Barry 8, Nova Southeastern 5
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Barry............................ 020 330 0 - 8 11 2 (26-17, 8-5 SSC)
Nova Southeastern... 000 104 0 - 5 3 3 (35-13, 11-5 SSC)
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Pitchers: Barry - Brianna Smith and Kayla Monroy. Nova Southeastern - Devin Higginbotham;
Dani Caron(5) and Stephanie Palazzolo; Sarah Hart.
Win-Brianna Smith(10-4) Loss-Devin Higginbotham(9-4) T-2:09 A-257
Weather: fretful