Still fighting: Eagles oust NWF State at FCSAA Tournament

VERO BEACH, Fla. (May 2, 2015) – FCSAA No. 7 Tallahassee Community College made quick work of Panhandle Conference rival Northwest Florida State College on Saturday morning, winning 12-2 in five innings and eliminating the Raiders from the NJCAA District/FCSAA State Softball Tournament. 

Tallahassee (31-16) moved on in loser's bracket play and will meet No. 6 State College of Florida, champions of the Suncoast Conference, at 2 p.m. in another elimination contest for both teams. Playing alongside the Tallahassee-Northwest Florida State game at Historic Dodgertown, State College of Florida beat Hillsborough Community College, 5-1. 

For the third straight game in Vero Beach, Tallahassee jumped out to a 2-0 lead after its first at-bat. Only this time, the runs kept coming. 

The Eagles added three more in the second and put the game away with a four-run third. Tallahassee needed only two hits to do its damage, taking advantage of two hit batsmen, a passed ball and two defensive errors by the Raiders. 

With one run already on the board, Danielle Patterson's double scored Shelby Manns and Brooke Marendino. Later in the inning, Patterson crossed home plate, courtesy of Brianna Tourtillott's sac-fly, to give the Eagles a commanding 9-0 lead. 

Northwest Florida State finally broke through against winning pitcher Mariah Rivera in the fourth, scoring two runs, but the Eagles went right back on the offensive, this time doing enough damage to end the game via the mercy rule. 

With the bases loaded and nobody out, a passed ball scored Marendino from third and Karley Yeager singled home Patterson and Taesha DuBoise to give Tallahassee a 12-2 lead. 

Rivera closed the complete-game effort with a scoreless fifth to extend the Eagles' season for at least one more game. She scattered six hits over five innings, walked none and struck out five. 

Patterson and DuBoise, the top two hitters in the Tallahassee batting order, went a combined 6-for-7 with five runs scored and two RBIs. Both players had three hits while Patterson scored four times. 

Saturday's 2 p.m. game with State College of Florida can be seen on NJCAA TV.