Fort Myers, Fla. -- The University of Pittsburgh at Bradford softball team played its final two games of their Spring Break trip to Florida on Sunday. They fell to Brockport in the first game 12-5, before withstanding a late rally from SUNY Canton to win the finale 15-10.

Game 1:

The Panthers worked to erase an early 3-run deficit, but after taking a 4-3 lead, allowed 8 Brockport runs in the 6th to fall behind for good.

• The Panthers fell behind in the first inning as Brockport tallied three hits off of Lindsay Steele to jump ahead. The Panthers were able to erase one of the runners as after the first hit of the game, KT Marx threw out the runner attempting to steal second. This was quickly followed by a double to the right-center field gap and a single up the middle to score the run.
• The Panthers went down in order in the 1st, with the help of a runner caught stealing of their own, and then saw the Golden Eagles tack on two more runs in the second. A one-out walk and a single with an outfield error resulted in Brockport having runners on 2nd and 3rd. Brockport successfully pulled off a squeeze bunt to score a run and an error was made on the play, putting runners on the corners with 1 out. Steele allowed a single to left to score the 3rd run of the game but got two fielder's choice outs around a walk to end the inning.
• Steele settled down after the 2nd inning, limiting Brockport to just three runners over the next two innings. After her second scoreless frame, she was rewarded as the Panthers scored 3 runs to tie the game up. Lexi Peters drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a Marguerite DeFranco single up the middle. Following two straight outs, Rachel Przybysz dropped a single into right-center to bring in DeFranco. She moved to second don't eh throw home which proved to be important as Chloe Cordova followed her at-bat with a line-drive single through the right side to tie the game at three. 
• Meghan Kapp replaced Steele in the 5th. She walked the first batter she faced but got some help from her battery mate as Marx threw out her second base stealer of the game. Kapp struck out the next batter and after a two-out walk got a second straight strikeout to end the frame.
• The Panthers were able to continue building momentum as they took a 4-3 lead in the 5th. Faith McLaughlin started the inning by drawing a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. She moved to third as Lexi Peters reached on an infield single. DeFranco singled came up with the big hit as she singled through the left side to bring McLaughlin home and put the Panthers ahead.
• In the 6th, the Golden Eagles started squaring up Kapp's pitches as three of the first four hitters singled to tie the game at 4. after a sacrifice fly restored the Brockport lead, the next 5 Golden Eagle batters reached base, totaling 6 more runs. Kapp allowed two walks and two RBI singles before she was lifted for Ashley Stein. Stein allowed a 2-run single to the first batter she faced but was able to induce a ground out to third to end the inning.
• The Panthers were struck out in order in the 6th and saw their deficit grow by one run in the 7th. Stein allowed a leadoff double to right-center and after a strikeout and groundout gave up an infield single to bring in a run.
• Pitt-Bradford was able to come back and score one in the 7th before seeing the game come to an end. Daytona Wentzel started the inning with a single up the middle and moved to third on consecutive groundouts. Imani Jackson brought her around with a line-drive single to right field before a KT Marx flyout brought the contest to an end.

Marguerite DeFranco was the lone Panther to record a multiple-hit game as he finished 2 for 4 with a run scored and an RBI. Chlor Cordova drove in two runs while Rachel Przybysz and Imani Jackson also tallied runs batted in. Lindsay Steele received a no decision ager giving up 3 earned runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 4.0 innings pitched. Despite a strong start to the 5th, Kapp was tagged with the loss after allowing 8 runs in the 6th. Ashley Stein threw the final 1.1 innings, allowing 1 run.

Game 2:

The Panthers' final game of the trip saw Pitt-Bradford jump out to a big lead, but a 5th inning rally by SUNY Canton extended the game, with the Panthers holding on for a 15-10 victory.

• Playing as the visitors, Pitt-Bradford was able to jump out to an immediate two-run lead in the first inning. Faith McLaughlin led the game off with a single to center and was able to steal second during the next at-bat. Daytona Wentzel also struck out, however, the third strike was dropped, and she was able to beat the throw to first to extend the rally. After Wentzel also stole second, Lexi Peters lined a triple into center field to score both runs.
• Starting pitcher Ashley Stein quickly retired the side in the first, and after Pitt-Bradford went down in order in the second, stranded two runners on base with back-to-back strikeouts to end the 2nd inning.
• The Panthers doubled their lead in the 3rd. McLaughlin started the inning by drawing a walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt from DeFranco. After Wentzel grounded out, Peters came through again, singling into right field to tally her third RBI of the game. Peters took second on a passed ball and moved to third when Imani Jackson reached on an error. The Panthers were able to add a second run in the frame when Jackson and Peters pulled off a double steal.
• The Roos offense woke up in the 3rd inning, stealing a run back off of Stein. They started the frame with a lead-off single, and after a lineup put runners on second and third when Stein made a throwing error on a ground ball back to the circle. They were able to score their first run of the game on an RBI groundout. 
• Pitt-Bradford responded in the 4th, tacking on 5 runs to take a commanding 9-1 lead. Dolcey Shunk started the rally with a single to center and moved to second on a wild pitch. The Canton pitcher uncorked a wild pitch on ball 4 to Chloe Cordova, allowing Shunk to move to third, and Cordova made a heads-up play, sprinting all the way to second on the walk while the Roos defense was not paying attention. 
• Shunk scored and Cordova moved to third on another wild pitch to score the Panthers' first run of the frame. Following a McLaughlin pop-up, DeFranco singled to right to bring in Cordova. She took 2nd on the play as the single was misplayed in the outfield, and moved to third when Wentzel reached on an error. Wentzel stole second before another wild pitch saw both runners take a base and the Panthers score a run. Peters brought in another run with a single to right and after a Jackson walk, Hannah Fisher dropped a hit into right-center to score the Panthers final run of the 4th.
• The Roos clawed a run back in the bottom of the inning as they loaded the bases on a hit batter, walk and single through the left side before Stein forced in the run with a bases-loaded walk.
• The Panthers extended their lead even further in the 5th, scoring 4 more runs. Shunk started another rally with a leadoff walk and quickly scored as Cordova hit a triple to right field. The throw from the outfield was slow coming into third base, allowing a heads up Cordova to quickly sprint home to score the second run. The second two panther runs n the inning came on yet another Lexi Peters RBI single. Following hits from McLaughlin and pinch hitter Madison Camp and a passed ball, PEters lined a pitch back up the middle, allowing both runners to score.
• Pitt-Bradford had a commanding 13-2 lead and seemed ready to finish the game early, but their pitching and defense struggled to keep calm as the Roos battled back to score 8 runs in the frame to cut the advantage from 11 to 3. Canton scored the first four runs before the Panthers could record an out. They used 3 free passes, one single and two errors in the first part of the rally. Stein was able to slow things down as she picked up a strikeout, but was removed for Meghan Kapp with runners on 1st and 2nd with one out.
• Kapp's outing started with an infield hit to reload the bases, and a walk to bring in a run. Following a sacrifice fly, Kap threw two straight wild pitches, allowing the 7th run of the inning to score, and after a walk gave up a single to right to bring in the 8th and final run. She was able to bring the inning to a close with a fly ball to center, but only after the Roos had scored 8 runs on 3 hits, 2 errors, and 5 free passes.
• Both items threatened to score in the 6th inning but left runners stranded on base to send the game to a deciding 7th inning.
• In the final inning, the Panthers were able to pad their advantage by adding two runs. Peters tallied her 5th hit of the game with one out and after a line out to third moved to the opposite corner of the base path on a Hannah Fisher single. Rachel Przybysz brought Peters in to score with a single to left and Shunk dropped a single on the right-field line to bring in Fisher to finish the scoring.
• Kapp remained in the game for the 7th and quickly got an out via the k. She walked the next batter but got some help from KT Marx, who entered as a defensive substitute. Marx snapped a throw down to first after a pitch to pick off the runner and get the second out of the inning. Kapp gave up one final single, before a sharp grounder to Peters at short was fielded and fired to first in time to end the game.

Lexi Peters was the star of the game offensively as she was 5 for 5 in the game with 6 runs batted in and three more scored. She accounted for 5 of the Panthers' 16 hits. Dolcey Shunk finished the game 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and an RBI, while leadoff hitter Faith McLaughlin went 2-4 and scored three runs. Despite the late struggles, Ashley Stein (2-2) got the win. She gave up 8 runs 3 earned on 4 hits and 5 walks in 4.1 innings pitched. She struck out 5. Kapp threw 2.2 innings in relief, giving up 2 unearned runs on 3 hits, and 4 walks. She added 3 strikeouts.

The Panthers (4-12) finish their spring break trip with a 4-8 record. They will return to Bradford on Monday and are scheduled to return to action next Sunday, March 20th, with a doubleheader at Baldwin Wallace. First pitch is slated for 1:00 p.m.