Softball team travels to Indian River State College for key conference doubleheader

The Eastern Florida State College softball team hits the road on Wednesday for a key doubleheader against Indian River State College.

The Pioneers hold a one-game lead on the Titans in the standings heading into the doubleheader which begins at 2 p.m. at Indian River State College. The Titans took the first meeting, but Indian River State College swept a doubleheader in two close games at Titan Softball Complex almost two weeks ago in a battle of the top two teams in the conference.

The teams come into the matchup as two of the top six hitting teams as the Titans are hitting .345 as a team and the Pioneers come in at .337. Eastern Florida State College leads Region 8 in doubles with 112 and the 491 hits are third in the state.

Sophomore Nikki Pennington has three home runs in three games against Indian River State College and is hitting .583 with six RBI against the Pioneers this season. Overall Pennington is hitting .500 this season with eight home runs and 37 RBI. Freshman Emily Bartlett is third in Region 8 in doubles with 18 and is hitting .414 this season with 38 RBI. Madison Neuhaus leads the team with 39 RBI and is hitting .413 this season.

Meanwhile Dawn Bodrug won both games of the doubleheader against the Titans and Juliana Speranza had five RBI. For the season, Bodrug is third in Region 8 with 175 strikeouts and is tied for sixth in wins at 17. Teammate Speranza is tied for fifth with 11 home runs and has driven in 59 runs which is second in Region 8.

Eastern Florida State College will host Broward College on Saturday in a doubleheader and then wrap up the Southern Conference regular season Wednesday, April 17 against Palm Beach State College. The top two teams in the conference advance to the NJCAA District/FCSAA State Tournament May 2-6 at Boombah Soldiers Creek Park in Longwood.