MADEIRA BEACH, FL – No. 5 Walters State won a 12-1 decision over St. Petersburg to open up play on Sunday, before falling to No. 7 Florida Southwestern 11-3 in their final game of the JUCO Kickoff Classic.
With the split, the Lady Senators moved to 4-2 on the season.
GAME ONE: No. 5 Walters State 12, St. Petersburg 1 (6 Innings)
In the opening game of the day, Walters State scored eight runs in the sixth inning to break open a close game.
Randi Delong led the way for the Lady Senators at the plate, going 3-4 with a home run and three RBIs. Alayna Ross homered, as well, while Emma Keck had three hits and an RBI.
In the circle, Ross got the start and threw five innings. Ross gave up one run on six hits and struck out two. Allie Jones replaced Ross in the sixth and pitched the final inning, striking out two.
The Lady Senators got on the board three batters into the game, as Delong smacked a two-run home run following an Addison Beach leadoff double. St. Petersburg cut the lead in half in the bottom of the second, but Walters State got the run back in the top of the third with an error that scored Delong to make it 3-1.
That was the score until the fifth when Walters State made it 4-1 with an RBI single by Golden. In the sixth, Walters State broke the game open with eight runs. Those runs came on an RBI single by Delong, a two-RBI double by Lauren Ruehl, a three-run homer by Ross, a Keck RBI single and a Kendal Mason RBI single that made it 12-1.
From there, Jones shut St. Petersburg down to end the game.
GAME TWO: No. 7 Florida Southwestern 11, No. 5 Walters State 3 (6 Innings)
In the final game of the classic, Walters State gave up seven runs in the first two innings and could never recover.
The Lady Senators had four hits in the game, a hit each from Beech, Mason, Delong and Nora Mack. Mack's was a solo home run.
In the circle, Makayla Ramsey got the start and threw three innings. Ramsey gave up eight runs, five earned, on eight hits and struck out one. Emma Myatt replaced Ramsey in the fourth and gave up three runs on six hits while striking out one.
Florida Southwestern broke out to a 7-0 lead, but Walters State responded in the third. Keck got things going with a walk and another walk to Beech and a single by Mason loaded the bases. That brought up Delong, who cut the lead with a two-RBI single.
However, that was all the Lady Senators got in the inning. Mack hit a home run in the fourth to make it a 7-3 game, but Florida Southwestern scored the next four runs and ended things in six.
Up Next:
Walters State will be back in action on February 7th, traveling to take on Gordon State. Friday's doubleheader is set to begin at 4 pm ET.