Pirates Go 4-0 at Panhandle Round Robin

The no. 14 ranked Pensacola State softball team opened conference play with a bang going 4-0 at the Panhandle Round Robin this weekend in Dothan, AL. Continue reading below for individual game recaps.

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The Pirates got on the board in the first inning and held on for the win in the opening game against Northwest Florida (NWF) on Friday.

Two errors by the Raiders set the table for Ellie Hansen who drove in two runs with a triple to right-center in the first. Hansen then scored courtesy of a single from Monique Poitevin to give PSC a quick 3-0 lead in the first.

The lead was extended in the second when Susanna Soldi drove a sacrifice fly to left to score Mya Geros and Hansen struck again with an RBI single to make it 5-0.

Northwest finally got on the board in the top of the third when they strung together three extra base hits and made the score 5-3.

The Pirates did not waste anytime and answered in their half of the inning when Monique Poitevin led off with a homerun. Shaylan Whatman reached and eventually scored courtesy of errors from the Raiders and the Pirates found themselve up 7-3. 

Both teams held each other scoreless in the fourth, but NWF added one run in the top of the fifth to pull within three.

Again PSC responded in their half of the inning when Mya Geros started things with a triple and Sajarie Jones followed with a walk. Hansen came to the plate and drove a sacrifice fly to rightfield that Geros tagged on and Jones came around to score when the ball got away from the catcher to give Pensacola a 9-4 advantage.

The top of the sixth saw NWF have their first two batters reach and Heleena Reinhardt entered the game in relief. She immediately induced a 6-to-5-to-4 double play and fielded the next ball herself to end the inning.

Northwest threatened in the top of the seventh using a 2 RBI triple and sacrifice fly to make the score 9-7, but the Pirate defense held as Geros ran down the final out of the game in centerfield.

Jorja Barrett received the start for the Pirates and picked up her 8th win of the season by throwing five innings and only allowing two earned runs. 

Mya Geros was 3-for-3 at the plate with two runs scored, a triple and RBI. Ellie Hansen was 2-for-3 with four RBI's and a triple while Monique Poitevin was 2-for-3 with two RBI's and a homerun. 

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In the second game of the evening the Pirates found themselves down early when Gulf Coast came out the gate and scored three runs in the top of the first.

The Pirates responded with one run of their own in the bottom of the inning when Maddy Childs drove in Ellie Hansen.

Jenna Trim took over pitching duties in the second inning and promptly shut down the Commodores and the score remained 3-1 until the fourth when Shaylan Whatman reached on the fielder's choice and Adriana Sierra entered the game to pinch run for her. Sierra advanced thanks to an error and later scored on an RBI single from Mya Geros to bring PSC within one run.

In the bottom of the fifth Ellie Hansen and Maddy Childs drew back-to-back walks and both scored on a triple from Monique Poitevin to give the Pirates a 4-3 advantage. Poitevin promptly scored on a single from Shaylan Whatman to give PSC a two run cushion they would not relinquish.

Monique Poitevin was a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate with a double, triple and two RBI's while Maddy Childs and Mya Geros were both 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Trim recorded her fourth win of the season while striking out eight and only allowing two hits in her six innings of relief.

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Saturday kicked off with an offensive party that the Pirates dominated against Tallahassee (TCC). 

TCC struck first with a 2-run homerun in the top of the second, but that awakened the PSC bats in their half of the inning. Maddy Childs reached second on a dropped fly ball and eventually took third and scored courtesy of passed balls. Jenna Trim walked and scored on Monique Poitevin's double to left field. Kelsi Bargman followed with her own double to plate Poitevin and Mya Geros then drove in the Pirates fourth run with a single to right.

Maddy Childs stepped back up the the plate in the third and drove a ball over the left fence to give PSC a 5-2 advantage.

An error and double helped TCC close the gap to 5-4 in the top of the fourth.

Pensacola got hot again in the fifth inning when Ellie Hansen singled and Maddy Childs reached thanks to an error. Both advanced on a sacrifice bunt from Jenna Trim and both scored on Monique Poitevin's single to center field. Shaylan Whatman then stepped to the plate and crushed a ball over the centerfield fence to make it 9-4. Kelsi Bargman and Mya Geros restarted the offense with back-to-back singles and Sajarie Jones plated Bargman with a groundball to shortstop to give the Pirates their 10th run. 

The scoring continued in the bottom of the sixth when Hansen and Childs reached with back-to-back singles and advanced on a passed ball to set the table for Trim to drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. Poitevin drove in another run with her 3rd hit of the day and then Whatman closed things out by lacing an RBI double to right-center.

The Pirates banged out 15 hits with Monique Poitevin and Shaylan Whatman having near identical lines of 3-for-4, 2 runs scored, three RBI's, a double and Whatman adding a homerun. Ellie Hansen, Maddy Childs, Kelsi Bargman and Mya Geros each had two hits.

Jorja Barrett won her 9th game of the season in the circle as she only allowed two earned runs while striking out two.

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The final game of the weekend featured a pitching duel and strong defense from both squads and the Pirates were able to defeat Chipola 3-1.

Pensacola struck in the bottom of the third when Mya Geros led off with a bunt single and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Sajarie Jones. Susanna Soldi laced a ball to left field to move Geros to third and Ellie Hansen scored her with a groundball to second.

In the top of the fifth Chipola recorded back-to-back singles with one out to set the table. PSC catcher Maddy Childs made a diving catch on a foul pop up to secure the second out of the inning before a walk loaded the bases. A passed ball allowed the Indians to tie the game at one before Kelsi Bargman ran down a ball in left field to end the inning.

Things stayed the same until to bottom of the sixth when Maddy Childs led off with a line drive homerun to center. Jenna Trim drew a walk and used two passed balls to make her way to third base where she scored on a sacrifice fly to left from Monique Poitevin to give the Pirates a 3-1 lead.

Chipola threatened in the top of the seventh when they led off with a single and stole second base, but then third baseman Shaylan Whatman snagged a hard hit groundball and dove to tag out the runner trying to advance to third. After another stolen base Jenna Trim recorded her only strikeout in the circle with a big backwards K and fielded a groundball to end the game.

The Pirates collected eight hits in the game with Susanna Soldi getting three and Shaylan Whatman two. 

Jenna Trim threw a complete game to pick up her fifth win of the season. She scattered five hits and did not allow any earned runs.