Game One Box Score
Game Two Box Score

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - It was a tale of two completely different games for the Mercyhurst softball team on Wednesday.

A pitching duel ensued in the first game of the doubleheader with Nova Southeastern, with the Sharks taking game one by a 2-0 final. However, the Laker bats awoke in the second game, with Mercyhurst earning the split after a 10-5 victory.

The Lakers remained at .500 overall on the season, sporting a 7-7 record. Nova Southeastern is now 15-11 on the year.

In game one, Mercyhurst's Annie Truelove and Nova Southeastern's Sara DeMuth were locked up in a pitching battle, with DeMuth getting the better of the Laker hurler. The Sharks would score their only runs of the game in the bottom of the sixth inning on a two-out, two-run single by Raven Sepulveda.

Both pitchers would go the distance, with Truelove suffering the loss. She allowed two runs on eight hits in six innings. She walked one and struck out four. DeMuth allowed five hits and a walk in her ninth win of the season. She struck out eight Lakers in the victory.

It looked like another pitching duel in game two, until Mercyhurst broke the game wide open with a seven-run fifth inning. The Lakers took a 1-0 advantage in the top of the first on a steal of home plate by senior Samantha Eimers. Emily Redig was thrown out at second on the attempted double steal, but Eimers scored the all-important first run of the game.

It remained 1-0 Mercyhurst until the bottom of the fourth inning, when the Sharks plated two runs on a triple by starting pitcher Laura Saladrigas, taking a 2-1 advantage.

The Lakers scored seven runs on just three hits in the top of the fifth inning to take an 8-2 lead. Mercyhurst took advantage of three costly errors by the Sharks to take control of the game. Lauren Rossi had a two-run single, driving home Sydney Cuscino and Julie Harmon to retake the lead. Later in the inning, Courtney Smith hammered her second home run of the season, a three-run blast that capped off the big inning.

Mercyhurst was not done, scoring one run in each of the sixth and seventh innings to take a 10-2 lead. Rossi had an RBI groundout in the sixth and Andrea Sauers hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Saladrigas would hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the seventh to cap off a five-RBI game for the Sharks.

Kristi Janoske gave up two runs on four hits in four innings for the victory. She improved to 2-1 on the season. Megan Hopton and Megan Smith closed out the game for Mercyhurst, with Smith retiring the only batter she faced to seal the win.

Mercyhurst will conclude its spring trip with a doubleheader on Thursday against Palm Beach Atlantic. Game one is scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m.