No. 4 Florida Tech Defeats No. 25 Mississippi College 4-2, Panthers Tie Program Record For Wins
By Florida Tech // May 12, 2019
Panthers improve overall record to 42-10
BREVARD COUNTY • MELBOURNE, FLORIDA – No. 4 Florida Tech softball won the NCAA DII South Region 2 champions Saturday, May 11, as the team took down No. 25 Mississippi College 5-2. This win also marks the 42nd victory of the season which ties the program record set in 2007.
This is also the second time the team has advanced to the Super Regional round of the postseason and first since 2015.
Vanessa Rubio had herself a day as the junior went 2-3 with two runs, two RBI and one home run. Shanysse Emerenciana also went 2-3 with two runs and Katie Maiello scored the other Panthers run.
In the circle for Tech was Melanie Murphy (25-5) and she pitched a magnificent game despite it being her third in as many days. The Melbourne native went all seven innings and only allowed two runs on five hits and sat three down on strikes.
The game did not begin in the Crimson and Gray’s favor as the Choctaws had a run in both the top of the first and second innings and quickly made the score 2-0. However, the lead would be halved in the bottom half of the second when Mikayla Wessel’s beautiful shot to the left-center field gap got the Panthers first run on the board.
The score would hold for two innings till a wild pitch by MC allowed Shanysse to trot across the bag. This tied it at 2-2 as the contest went into the fifth inning.
It would be another two innings before more runs were tallied. But it was worth the wait as Vanessa Rubio hit a dinger that just barely cleared the right-center field fence to score both Maiello and herself.
The final run of the ballgame came later in the sixth when a slow grounder to the shortstop by Victoria Szrom which afforded Shanysse enough time to cross the plate safely. This gave the Panthers its 5-2 victory and put the women one step closer to a national title.
Tech will be hitting the practice field for the next few days before heading up to Pensacola, Florida, Thursday, May 16, for the Super Regional series against No. 2 West Florida.
For the latest news, updates and information on the Florida Tech softball team, visit FloridaTechSports.com.
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