Eagles strengthen grip on first place with sweep of Gulf Coast State

PANAMA CITY, Fla. (March 23, 2014) – Tallahassee Community College continued its impressive start to the Panhandle Conference softball season on Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader from defending league champion Gulf Coast State College, 4-1 and 8-0.

With one round of conference play in the books, Tallahassee (23-8) sits atop the league standings at 7-1, three games ahead of Gulf Coast State (22-19, 4-4) and the Eagles' next opponent, Northwest Florida State College (4-4). Chipola College can join the teams at 4-4 with a game two win over Pensacola State College on Sunday evening.

In the opener, the Eagles' overcame a slow start offensively to score the 4-1 win.

Trailing 1-0 and hitless through four innings, Tallahassee's bats woke up in the fifth.

Alexis Huss broke up Haley Elver's no-hit bid with a double and scored the tying run on Marina Cobbs' single.

An inning later, the Eagles plated three more runs that provided the final margin of victory.

Mariah Rivera pitched another solid game in the circle for Tallahassee, allowing only two hits and striking out four.

The momentum gained from the late inning heroics carried over into the second game, which Tallahassee won, 8-0 in five innings.

The Eagles scored five runs on seven hits in their first at-bat and all but ended the suspense with an additional three runs and five hits an inning later for the eight-run lead.

Meanwhile, Ashley Dobson twirled a one-hit shutout to pick up the victory.

Offensively, solid contributions up and down the lineup contributed to Tallahassee's 14-hit attack.

Brianna Murillo was 3-for-3 with a double and run scored. Danielle Patterson was 2-for-2 and scored two runs. Te Reo Powhiri Matautia was 2-for-3 and scored twice. Brenda Santana and Taesha DuBoise were both 2-for-3.

Tallahassee hosts Northwest Florida State on Tuesday. Game one begins at 4 p.m.