Craft shines in Defiance’s final day in Florida

MELBOURNE, Fla. - The Yellow Jackets defeated the Fort Lauderdale Eagles in game one of their Space Coast Spring Game finale on Friday afternoon, 2-1. Defiance College will play once more in Florida as they hope to build on their three-game winning streak. 

Anika Craft shined bright against Fort Lauderdale as she pitched a complete game and moved to 3-4 on the season, while earning three hits on four at-bats, and contributing a run and an RBI. 

The Jackets and Eagles remained strong through the first pair of innings until DC got going at the top of the third with Craft's run alongside Haley Hughes'. At the bottom of the fifth, Fort Lauderdale's Cheyenne Southers hit a triple, which earned Makenzi Heaton an RBI as the next batter up. However, the Eagles earned a third out and couldn't equalize. The score remained 2-1 in the final two innings as Defiance earned the win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

• Anika Craft allowed one run, three hits and no walks on 24 batters faced. 

• Craft, Morgan Scott and Madison Guggenbiller contributed Defiance's five hits. DC outhit the Eagles 5-3. 

• Fort Lauderdale had four errors to the Jackets' zero. 

• Craft allowed just four runs through four turns on the mound throughout the week. 

UP NEXT

A second game will take place against Webster at 2:30 p.m. to finish out its Florida trip. The Yellow Jackets will then take a week off before returning to the diamond on March 21. Cornerstone will travel to Sal Hench Field for a doubleheader beginning at 3 p.m.

-JACKETS-