TCC Softball drops pair but punches ticket to postseason

MARIANNA, Fla. (April 18, 2013) - Tallahassee Community College dropped a pair of games to Chipola College on Thursday evening, falling 4-3 and 8-5 in the Panhandle Conference finale for both teams.

Despite dropping both games, Tallahassee still qualified for the FCSAA's Gulf District Tournament as a result of Gulf Coast State College's sweep over Pensacola State College. The Eagles (4-12) finished in sole possession of fourth place in the PC standings, one game ahead of Pensacola State (3-13).

In Thursday's opener, Tallahassee scored three runs in the top of the fifth to erase a 2-0 deficit.

Ashley Heath-Smith's single scored Bianca Gutierrez and Dominique Davis to tie the game at 2-all. The next batter, Brenda Santana, doubled to left center to plate Heath-Smith with the go-ahead run.

Chipola, however, tied the game in the bottom half of the inning and won it on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the seventh.

Ashley Dobson suffered the loss in relief despite allowing only one hit in 2.1 innings of work.

Heath-Smith was 1-for-3 with a pair of RBI. Santana was 1-for-4 with a double and a run batted in.

In the nightcap, Chipola tagged Dobson for five runs in its first at-bat and won 8-5.

Tallahassee took a 1-0 lead in the first on Santana's solo homer but the lead was short-lived as Chipola sent 11 batters to the plate in its first at-bat.

The Eagles scored two in the fourth and one more in the fifth to get within a run (5-4) but Chipola put the game away with three runs in its half of the fifth.

Santana and Marina Cobbs both went 1-for-4 in game two.

Tallahassee won't be entering uncharted waters when it faces Suncoast Conference Champion Hillsborough Community College in the opening round of the FCSAA's Gulf District Tournament opens on Friday, May 3 in Pensacola, Fla. In both 2008 and 2011, the Eagles won the tournament after entering as the No. 4 seed from the Panhandle Conference.