FAU Softball Captures Two Wins on Day One of Strike Out Cancer Tournament

MEDIA CONTACT: Kylie Magar

FAU Softball Captures Two Wins on Day One of Strike Out Cancer Tournament

BOCA RATON, Fla. – (Feb. 23, 2019) – The Florida Atlantic University softball team (7-7) added two more to the win column on day one of the 13th annual Strike Out Cancer Tournament. In the first game against Florida Gulf Coast, the Owls led the way to an 8-3 victory. Although the bats didn’t get going until later in the second game against UConn, the Owls still prevailed over the Huskies, 3-2. The Owls improved to .500 on the season and have now won four straight games.

Quotable:

“We played two really good games today,” said Head Coach Joan Joyce. “There were a couple of mistakes, but overall, we hit the ball pretty well and came up with some really good plays when we had people in scoring position. That was the key.”

Game 1

Key Plays:

The Owls got off to a hot start in the bottom of the first inning following Samantha Lageyre’s single down the left field line to score Ashleigh Jennings and Madisyn Palmer. The 2-0 lead didn’t last for long, as FGCU’s Sammi Poehlman and Racquel Fournet recorded an RBI double and RBI single, respectively to make it a tie ball game. In the bottom of the third inning with runners on the corners, Mia Olson singled to right field to send Palmer home to take the one-run lead. The Owls were able to provide more cushion in the bottom of the fifth inning following Jolie Duffner’s RBI single to score Lageyre, as well as Carolyn Rosa’s sacrifice fly to bring in Mia Olson and make the score 5-2. FGCU cut the Owls’ lead down to two thanks to a homerun by Reedy Davenport, but that’s the closest the Eagles could get to the Owls thanks to three more runs scored by FAU in the bottom of the sixth inning. The Owls started off the day on a high note with the 8-3 victory.

Notables:

Lageyre was a perfect 3-3 at the plate, delivering three hits, RBI and runs a piece
Jennings, Lageyre, Olson and Duffner each captured multiple hits in the game
Palmer stole three bases in the game and is just six steals shy of breaking the school record. Jennings picked up two stolen bases in the game and has four on the young season
Morrison (4-1) pitched a complete game and picked up her fourth win of the season, allowing two earned runs and two walks

Game 2

The FAU offense didn’t get rolling until the bottom of the fifth inning when Kaitlyn Burke picked up a sacrifice fly with the bases loaded to put the Owls up 1-0. In the top of the sixth inning, Olson captured an RBI single to send home Palmer. Later in the inning, Duffner came up with a sacrifice fly to bring in Lageyre and extended the lead, 3-0. UConn made it close in the top of the seventh inning, scoring two runs on a sacrifice and single, but the game ended with a double play to seal the 3-2 victory for the Owls.

Notables:

Olson (2-4) pitched a complete game and did not allow a run until the top of the seventh inning. She delivered two strikeouts, no walks and kept the Huskies to five hits and one earned run
Olson, Duffner and Burke each captured an RBI in the game
Five different Owls delivered a hit a piece in the contest, including Palmer, Jennings, Lageyre, Olson, Duffner and Whitt

Up Next:

The Owls will be back for day two of the Strike Out Cancer Tournament to seek a second win over UConn tomorrow at 1 p.m. Spectators may purchase a tournament pass for $20/pass, which allows fans to attend the rest of the games in the tournament for a flat rate. To purchase a tournament pass, visit the Ticketmaster page or call 1-866-FAU-OWLS. For more information on the tournament, visit the tournament central page. During the games, follow along on Twitter (@fauowlssoftball) or access the live stats here.

– FAUSports.com –

Florida Atlantic University Athletics:

FAU Athletics is comprised of 21 intercollegiate teams involving 450 student-athletes that compete in baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, softball, swimming and diving, tennis, indoor and outdoor track, volleyball, beach volleyball, cheer and dance. The Owls are a NCAA Division I-A (FBS) institution and compete in Conference USA and the Coastal Collegiate Sports Association (CCSA) (beach volleyball, men’s swimming). The Owls have been playing football since 2001 and are a perfect 3-0 in bowl games, the most recent being a 50-3 victory over Akron in the 2017 Cheribundi Tart Cherry Boca Raton Bowl. The dance team finished its 2014 season No. 8, nationally. FAU cheer won a national championship in 2016.

About Florida Atlantic University:

Florida Atlantic University, established in 1961, officially opened its doors in 1964 as the fifth public university in Florida. Today, the University, with an annual economic impact of $6.3 billion, serves more than 30,000 undergraduate and graduate students at sites throughout its six county service region in southeast Florida. FAU’s world-class teaching and research faculty serves students through 10 colleges: the Dorothy F. Schmidt College of Arts and Letters, the College of Business, the College for Design and Social Inquiry, the College of Education, the College of Engineering and Computer Science, the Graduate College, the Harriet L. Wilkes Honors College, the Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine, the Christine E. Lynn College of Nursing and the Charles E. Schmidt College of Science. FAU is ranked as a High Research Activity institution by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The University is placing special focus on the rapid development of critical areas that form the basis of its strategic plan: Healthy aging, biotech, coastal and marine issues, neuroscience, regenerative medicine, informatics, lifespan and the environment. These areas provide opportunities for faculty and students to build upon FAU’s existing strengths in research and scholarship. For more information, visit www.fau.edu.