Stretch Run Awaits Second-Place Titans Softball

Twelve regular-season games remain for Eastern Florida's softball team, six of them in the FCSAA Southern Conference.

The Titans, 8-6 in the conference, sit second. Miami Dade is third at 7-7; Palm Beach State fourth at 5-7 and Broward College fifth at 0-14.

Indian River State is first at 12-0, having beaten Eastern Florida three times by one run.

The conference's top four finishers advance to the April 29-May 1 NJCAA District/FCSAA Tournament at Historic Dodgertown in Vero Beach. The Titans are seeking their 12^th straight tournament berth under head coach Ed Yanes.

 The Titans, 20-20 overall, begin their stretch run with a 4 and 6 p.m. doubleheader on Wednesday at Palm Beach State in Lake Worth. They host non-conference foe Hillsborough Community College at 2 and 4 p.m. Friday on the Palm Bay Campus and Indian River State at 4 and 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 12 in the home finale.

They visit Broward on April 15 to complete the conference schedule and travel to St. Johns River on April 21 and Seminole State on April 23.

The Titans are 1-2 against Palm Beach and 3-0 against Broward. They finished 4-1 against Miami Dade.

Offensively the Titans are being led by freshman Karli Smith and sophomore Hannah Roberts. Smith is hitting a team-high .367 in 98 at bats. She leads in slugging percentage at .643 and on base percentage at .461.

Smith also leads in doubles with 12, home runs with five, runs batted in with 37 and extra base hits with 17.

Roberts is hitting .355 in 121 at bats with a team-high 43 hits. She leads in triples with three and total bases with 65. Sophomore Rosie Lyard leads in runs scored with 33 and stolen bases with six.

Sophomore righty Alexa Snyder has been the workhorse in the circle with a 16-13 record in 170 innings pitched. She has a .259 earned run average and one no-hitter.

Yanes is hoping for more of the same.

"We will not change anything in our preparation before any of these last remaining games, just continue to do what we do and try and have the ball and the chips fall where they may, hopefully on our side this time," he said.

"Some pieces of the puzzle are back, they believe in themselves, they know we can play this game and compete with anybody in our conference and we have shown flashes of brilliance and how much they've matured over these last several weeks."

Yanes had special praise for Snyder.

"Regarding Alexa, over 13 years here we never had to rely on one arm as much as we had to rely on her this year," he said. "She stepped up to the task and continues to do so and give us the best outing she can each and every time she takes the ball.

"The offense does have its peaks and valleys as any team does during the season, however, if we can get our table setters to continue and improve on their job it will make the heart of the order where Hannah and Karli sit more productive as we move forward."