Florida Tech Panthers Sports Roundup

By  //  March 11, 2014

Larsson Earns Second SSC Women’s Golfer of the Week Award

The No. 4 Florida Tech Panthers earned another conference award, as freshman Johanna Larsson was named Sunshine State Conference Women’s Golfer of the Week presented by VALIC.

For the second time this season, freshman Johanna Larsson has been named the SSC Women's Golfer of the Week. (Florida Tech image)
For the second time this season, freshman Johanna Larsson has been named the SSC Women’s Golfer of the Week. (Florida Tech image)

Larsson captured the individual championship last week at the Peggy Kirk Bell Classic in Winter Springs, Fla. The Lidkoping, Sweden native, finished with a final round two-under-par 70, and a tournament total of 218. The total of 218 matched the program record for a 54-hole score. Larsson also helped the Panthers shoot the best round in program history, as the squad posted a final round 294 and finished second.

Johanna Larsson
Johanna Larsson

This is the second time Larsson has been named the SSC Women’s Golfer of the Week. She captured the award back on Feb. 3 for her play at the Tusculum/Kiawah Island Invitational. Larsson finished tied for first at the end of 36-holes, but fell in a playoff.

Larsson and the Panthers will return to action March 17-18 at the Lady Bucs Invitational. The tournament is hosted by Barry University and takes place at Shula’s Golf Club.

For more than half a century, VALIC has served as the leading retirement plan provider for higher education, as well as for K-12 schools and school districts, healthcare, government and other not-for-profit institutions.

No. 6 Panthers Get Back to Sunshine State Conference Play this Weekend

The No. 6 Florida Tech Panthers return to action with four games this week. The Panthers will travel to face Palm Beach Atlantic on Tuesday, and will then host Eckerd for a Sunshine State Conference series this weekend.

The No. 6 Panthers return to action today for the first of four games this week.
The No. 6 Panthers return to action today for the first of four games this week.

The Panthers (16-5, 1-2 SSC) picked up three wins last week. The squad defeated Chestnut Hill 6-4, and took two-of-three from West Georgia. Junior Scotty Ward led the pitching staff and picked up his fifth win of the season.

Ward threw a complete game shutout against West Georgia, as the Panthers won 7-0. It was the third complete game of the season for Ward who has not allowed a run in his last 16 innings of work. For his play last week, Ward was named the SSC Pitcher of the Week.

Scotty Ward
Scotty Ward

The Sailfish (8-11-1) are looking to pick up a measure of revenge on the Panthers. Palm Beach Atlantic dropped three games at Seminick-Hall Field back in February.

Since facing the Panthers, the Sailfish are 4-4 over their last eight games. The squad is led in hitting by Chris Farrell who has a .429 average to go with 14 RBIs. Joel Buchko leads the Sailfish with 15 RBIs.

Eckerd (10-5, 2-1 SSC) is coming off a successful weekend where it took two-of-three games from No. 17 Nova Southeastern.

The Tritons held the Sharks to just six total runs over the three games. Lincoln Dunham leads the Tritons in hitting with a .426 average, and Chris Hanson has 15 RBIs. Jimmy Gutowski leads the pitching staff for Eckerd. Gutowski is 5-0 so far this season with a 3.10 ERA.

First pitch Tuesday night against the Sailfish is set for 6 p.m. ET at the Santaluces Sports Complex in Lantana. Live audio and stats will be available at FloridaTechSports.com starting at 5:50 p.m. The Panthers’ series against Eckerd begins Friday at 6 p.m. ET at Seminick-Hall Field. The two teams will then play a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 12 p.m.