Nick Hartley

The Jackrabbit softball team hoped to enjoy some fun in the warm sun while visiting Florida this weekend; unfortunately, the trip to the Sunshine State was only a single win. The Jacks went 1-4 on the weekend. The Jacks lost 4-3 to Western Carolina, 11-0 and 12-0 to host Florida Gulf Coast and 5-4 to Boston College, while beating St. Bonaventure 6-2.

Western Carolina opened the first game by scoring one run in the third inning and then added four more in the fourth to take a 5-0 lead. The Jackrabbits used a pair of Catamount errors to get on the board in the sixth.

Jessica Vineyard reached on an error and moved up to second on a Brittany Postma bunt single. Kiley Schwedhelm sent a single to left field that scored both Jacks. Stacey Evans came up and walked, while Ashley Durazo got hit by a pitch to load the bases. Dani Broshar reached on an error, allowing Schwedhelm to score, making the score 5-4. Unfortunately, a pitching change ended the game with the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second.

The Jacks faced FGCU in the second game as FGCU crushed the ball and used a trio of SDSU errors to cruise to a 12-0 win.

The Jacks faced the Eagles of Boston College in the third game of the weekend. The Eagles got on the board early in the first inning. Sam Heinzman walked in the opening of the bottom of the first inning and advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt. Heinzman stole third and scored on a Schwedhelm sacrifice fly, tying the game at 1-1. Broshar walked in the second and scored on a Vineyard triple, giving the Jacks an early 2-1. Boston College rallied in the third to go back on top 5-2, but the Jacks capitalized on a pair of errors to bring Brooke Postma home, bringing the Jacks within two.

Vineyard led off the sixth inning with a single and advanced on a Greta Stroh sac bunt. Heinzman followed up with a single. Brooke loaded the bases on a fielder’s choice, bringing up Schwedhelm, who hit her second sac fly of the game to score Vineyard and make the score 5-4. The Jacks ended the game with runners on second and third base.

SDSU wasted little time in its fourth game of the day, getting ahead of St. Bonaventure. Heinzman kicked off the game with a double. Two batters later, Schwedhelm singled, allowing Heinzman to get to third base with just one out. Broshar walked to load the bases before Brittany Postma singled to score Heinzman and Schwedhelm for a 2-0 Jackrabbit lead. Vineyard hit a two-out single to score Brittany Postma and give SDSU a 3-0 lead in the third.

The Bonnies scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings before the Jacks put the game away with three runs in the seventh. Schwedhelm started the inning with a single, Evans got on after being hit by a pitch. Broshar hit a double, scoring Schwedhelm from second and giving the Jacks a 4-2 lead. Durazo then smacked a triple, scoring Broshar and Evans, which gave the Jackrabbits a comfortable 6-2 lead.

The Jacks wrapped up the tourney against FGCU, again losing 11-0. The loss drops the Jacks to 4-5 on the season, heading into the Tiger Invitational next weekend in Columbia, Mo.

Next, the Jacks will face the University of Missouri Tigers and Boston College. Two double headers are scheduled for Feb. 29 and March 1 at Columbia, Mo.