The Eckerd Tritons softball team opened the Cougar-Hurricane Classic in Columbus, Georgia, on Friday by splitting a pair of games. The Tritons began with a 6-0 victory over the Columbus State Cougars and later lost to the Montevallo Falcons 7-2.
In the first game, Eckerd scored twice in the opening inning after Hannah Taylor singled and Ella Coiner doubled, setting up Faith Wharton for a two-run double. Pitcher Brandilyn Reymer worked out of trouble in each of the next three innings as Eckerd held a 2-0 lead through four frames.
A Columbus State error allowed another run in the fifth, and Eckerd added three more runs in the seventh. Taylor led off with a solo home run, followed by Wharton’s second homer of the season two batters later. Ashley Cain then hit an infield single to make it 6-0. Reymer finished her shutout with a perfect bottom half of the seventh inning.
Five different Tritons players had two hits each during the win, and Reymer struck out seven batters for her second win this year.
In their second game, both teams remained scoreless through two innings before Montevallo scored four runs in the third. Eckerd was down six runs by the fifth but responded with two runs on an RBI single from Taylor. Montevallo added one more run in the sixth to finish out scoring.
Lex Difato and Taylor both recorded two hits for Eckerd against Montevallo.
Eckerd will continue play at the tournament on Saturday against Mars Hill and Georgia Southwestern.
