Softball team wins, punches ticket to state tournament

The Eastern Florida State College softball team clinched a spot in the FCSAA Division I/NJCAA South Atlantic District Championships with a win on Saturday.

The Titans, who finished the regular season 22-22 in the Citrus Conference, defeated the State College of Florida Manatee 6-3 in the first game and then lost the second game 5-2 on the road.

Eastern Florida State College will compete in the tournament beginning May 8 at the Eddie C. Moore Complex in Clearwater. It will be the first time the Titans will be in the tournament since 2019.

In Game 1, the Titans scored in the third inning as Brooke Theisen doubled, bringing home Marisa Shoudt. SCF-Manatee would tie the game in the fourth inning. But in the fifth inning the Titans would score twice and then three more times in the seventh inning to pick up the win.

Hannah Strickland would pick up the win, her 16th of the season and Alanna O'Brien came in to pick up the save, her seventh of the season.

Theisen had two hits in the games for the Titans and Shoudt and Livie Davis each scored twice.

In Game 2, the Titans scored runs in the second and third innings, but SCF-Manatee would tie the game in the bottom of the third and take the lead with three runs in the fourth inning.

Destiny Lake came in and tossed two scoreless innings of relief for the Titans, striking out one.

Eastern Florida State College now has 37 wins on the season which ties the 2011 team with the most wins in the past 30 years. They will wait to see who they will face in the first round of the state tournament.