Big week of conference games for softball team
The Eastern Florida State College softball team has a big week ahead as they have three key Citrus Conference doubleheaders this week
The Eastern Florida State College softball team has a big week ahead as they have three key Citrus Conference doubleheaders this week.
The week begins with a road trip to Miami on Tuesday for a top 25 matchup with Miami Dade College.
The Titans have won eight straight and are 10-4 in the conference and in second place in the conference standings.
Eastern Florida State College is hitting .389 on the season which is second in the FCSAA and eighth in the nation. The Titans are led by leadoff hitting Aracelis Jimenez who comes into the week hitting .474 which is fourth in the state. Teammate Annalyn Duncan leads the FCSAA in runs batted in with 53 which is also third in the nation. Duncan is hitting .446 with five home runs.
The Titans are fourth in the FCSAA in team earned run average with a 2.05 ERA led by the duo of Zoey Mills and Avery Velazquez. Mills has a 1.30 ERA in six starts while Velazquez has a 1.31 in nine appearances. Teammate Isabella Rosales has a 1.66 ERA in 10 appearance as the 2.05 ERA is also 10th in the nation.
The Sharks are eighth in the FCSAA in batting average, hitting .324 this season and are led by Caroline Mito who is hitting .541 which leads the FCSAA. Mito has four triples which is tied for fifth in the state.
Manda Handa is 10-3 in 13 games with a 1.59 ERA this season, striking out 68.
Then on Thursday the Titans will host Santa Fe College who begins the week right behind the Titans in the conference standings. The Saints are 9-4 in the conference and have won six of the past eight games.
Santa Fe comes into the week hitting .323 and have hit 32 home runs this season which is second in the FCSAA. McKenzie Cox is tied for second in the state with nine home runs and has driven in 38 runs.
Molly Bender leads the team in batting, hitting .424 on the season with 12 doubles and is fourth in the nation in stolen bases with 34.
On Saturday the Titans will travel to the College of Central Florida for a conference doubleheader who begin the week 3-11 in the conference.
"We just need to come out and play our brand of softball and let the chips fall into place. We have set ourselves up to have a big conference season but just have to keep the focus and discipline day in and day out to keep this pace up."
Tuesday's games in Miami will start at 2 p.m. and the Titans will be back at home Thursday afternoon for a doubleheader with the Saints beginning at 2 p.m. Admission is free to the Titan Softball Complex and fans can watch the games live online at the EFSC Titans YouTube page.