Davie, Fla. – Brittany Gross stole two bases to break the school-record for steals but Lynn University's softball team dropped a pair of Sunshine State Conference games to Nova Southeastern Friday night at the AD Griffin Complex. The Fighting Knights fell in the opener, 12-3, before falling 10-2 in game two. The Blue & White is now 10-37 on the season and 5-16 in the SSC.
After Lynn fell in the first game, Marianne Johnson got the call in the circle for game two and pitched well despite receiving the loss. The redshirt junior from Bowie, Md., allowed seven earned runs on 11 hits and struck out two.
Down 6-0 after four innings, Lynn cut the lead to four at 6-2 with two runs in the fifth. Katrina Lavadan started the rally with a two-out single to left and Mandi Brown blasted a double to the wall in centerfield to score Lavadan from first. Callie Darlin was up next and she lined a shot over the left fielder for another double to score Brown for the second run of the inning.
Nova Southeastern got both of those runs back in its half of the fifth to extend the lead back to six at 8-2 before adding two more in the sixth to win the game.
Earlier in the second game, Brittany Gross stole her second base of the doubleheader to break the program-record for career stolen bases with her 32nd swipe.
The Blue & White led early in the game with a run in the first as Gross led off the game with a single. She promptly stole second; tying the Lynn-record for career steals with 31, and advanced to third on Lavadan's sacrifice bunt. Mandi Brown then lined a shot right to the shortstop before Darlin's single up the middle gave LU the 1-0 lead.
NSU tied the game in its half of the first before Lynn answered back with two runs in the third. Megan Mayfield started the frame with a leadoff walk and advanced to second as Gross reached on a throwing error by the catcher. Once again, Lavadan was given the sacrifice sign and bunted both Mayfield and Gross 60 feet closer. Brown then came up to the plate, once again hitting the ball hard, but this time the ball dropped for a two-run double to centerfield.
The Sharks erupted for 11 runs in their half of the third on seven hits and two errors by Lynn to give them an insurmountable nine-run lead.
Darlin received the loss in the opener, allowing just five earned runs on nine hits. She also helped her own cause with an RBI while Brown drove in two runs on two hits.
LU is back in action Thursday night when they travel to Palm Beach Atlantic for a 6 pm doubleheader. Fans can follow all of the action by logging onto www.LynnFightingKnights.com and clicking on "Game Central."
