VIERA, Fla. (March 4, 2023) – Florida National University’s softball team came out swinging in their first contest at the Space Coast Games in Viera, Fla. FNU handed the Cleary University Cougars a 13-0 five-inning loss after hanging six runs in the fifth. Cleary had lost to the Keiser University Seahawks earlier in the day 9-1 while FNU came into the tournament with two wins over the Seahawks in West Palm Beach, Fla.
The Conquistadors got on the board early, as leadoff hitter Yleisha Perez executed a solo homer in her first at-bat. This would set off a four-run, three-hit opening inning for the FNU offense. Megen Johnson recorded the second run of the inning off an error from the first baseman. Jordan Bohn’s double allowed Ana De Oliveira Obando to go in for the score and Bohn would secure a run of her own a short while later on a single courtesy of Sabrina Castelli. FNU ended the inning with two runners left on and no errors.
FNU’s Dakota Kulis pitched a stellar game allowing just three hits during her time in the circle, walking no Cleary batters in the contest. In the second, Perez and Johnson collected one run-apiece to end a two-run, two-hit inning for the Conquistadors leading 6-0. A mistake from the Cleary catcher in the fourth allowed De Oliveira Obando to advance to home for the unearned run.
The Conquistadors made sure there would not be seven innings played, launching a five-run, two-hit campaign in the fifth that effectively ended the game. Perez and Adalis Arroyo both brought in unearned runs off two errors from the Cougars. Notably, another Bohn single scored pinch hitter Heather Cuddy. FNU successfully kept the Cougars off the board, getting three quick outs to end the game.
Up Next: FNU closes out day one in Viera, Fla., versus Ave Maria today at 7 p.m.
