Central Florida sweeps Tallahassee in battle of nationally-ranked teams

OCALA, Fla. (March 3, 2015) – Facing one another for the first time since last May's FCSAA State Championship Game, NJCAA No. 2/FCSAA No. 1 College of Central Florida swept a doubleheader from No. 9/No. 4 Tallahassee Community College on Tuesday afternoon. 

The Patriots (26-2) rallied late to steal a 3-2 victory in game one then shut out the Eagles (15-5), 3-0, in the second game. 

In the opener, Tallahassee broke a scoreless tie with a pair of runs in the top of the third. 

Kayla Boucher drew a bases-loaded walk that scored Brooke Marendino with the first run of the game. Two batters later, Jaylene Pryor singled home Taesha DuBoise to give the Eagles and game one starter Gabrielle Decker a 2-0 lead. 

Decker pitched her way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the fourth and although the freshman righty allowed only three hits over 4.1 innings in the circle, one of them came in the decisive fifth inning. 

With a runner on, Edrienne Williams tied the game with a two-run homer to right centerfield. Later in the inning, following a pitching change, Taylor Morrow doubled off Alexandra Cook to score what proved to be the game-winning run. 

Cook took the game one loss for the Eagles. She pitched the final 1.2 innings and was charged with one run and one hit. 

Danielle Patterson had two of Tallahassee's five hits. She was 2-for-4. DuBoise was 1-for-4 with a run scored. Pryor and Danielle Ekberg had the Eagles' other two hits. 

In game two, Tallahassee doubled up Central Florida in the hit column, but the Patriots made the most of their three hits in a 3-0 victory. 

Tiona Hill's two-run homer in the second provided all the offense the hosts would need in game two. The Patriots picked up an unearned run an inning later. 

Tallahassee had its chances in the nightcap – it left the bases loaded in the third and stranded two runners in the sixth – but was unable to break through against Patriot right-hander Autumn Hanners. 

Both Patterson and DuBoise went 2-for-4. Pryor and Ekberg picked up the Eagles' remaining two hits. 

Mariah Rivera took the hard-luck loss in the circle. She went the distance and allowed only three hits. 

Tallahassee will return to play on Friday when it hosts Florida State College at Jacksonville. Game one of the doubleheader is scheduled to begin at 3 p.m.