Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 TITUSVILLE, Fla. – Parkland softball concluded their seven-day, 10-game spring break trip to Florida on Friday, as the Cobras dropped a 6-4 decision to St. Louis and a 5-2 score to ASA College-Miami. Parkland comes home with a 5-5 record, including a 5-2 mark against NJCAA Division II opponents.

Hitting .336 as a team on the trip, the Cobras outscored their opponents 48-27 over the 10 games. Slugging 16 extra-base hits, Parkland's offense was paced by Emma Newton's .483 average with two home runs and nine RBI.

In the circle, the Cobras staff finished with a 4.45 ERA over the 10 games. Freshman Kate Beckemeyer led the team with two of the five wins, while Kirbie Mendenhall led the staff in ERA (3.18) and strikeouts (16).

Up next, Parkland softball returns to the Land of Lincoln where they will travel to Fairfield, Ill., on Tuesday, March 19, for a 4:30 p.m. doubleheader against Frontier. The Cobras home opener is scheduled for three days later, March 22, when Parkland hosts Sauk Valley for a doubleheader at 3 p.m.

Game 1: Parkland 4, St. Louis 6

Parkland rallied from down 3-0 with a pair of two-run home runs from right fielder Emma Newton and catcher Summer Johnson in the sixth inning, but the Cobras fell to St. Louis CC, 6-4, in the first game on Friday.

Combining for four of the team's five hits, Newton hit her second homer in as many days while Johnson's go-ahead blast was her first of the season. Shortstop Camryn Skundberg recorded the other Cobra hit on the day, setting up Newton's home run. 

After both teams could only muster one hit in the opening two innings, St. Louis broke the seal in the bottom of the third with a one-out single and a two-out single to plate three runs. Both teams threatened again in the fourth inning – the Cobras putting two runners in scoring position with two outs and the Archers loading the bases with two out – but neither side could come up with a two-out hit.

With Beckemeyer again posting a zero in the fifth, the Cobras offense found life in the top of the sixth inning. Camryn Skundberg started the rally with a one-out single, and then Emma Newton chased St. Louis starting pitcher Sarah Shepard with her second home run in as many days, cutting the deficit to 3-2. After the Archer reliever hit Bella Coffey, the Cobras again played long ball as Summer Johnson sent one over the wall in center field to give Parkland the lead.

However, the lead was short lived as St. Louis' scored three times in the bottom of the sixth to retake the lead. A lead-off home run tied the game, and then a RBI ground and RBI single pushed across the decisive runs. 

Game 2: Parkland 2, ASA College-Miami 5

After falling behind 2-0, the Cobras fought back to tie the game in the second inning, but came up short in their final game of the trip, as ASA College-Miami scored runs in three of the final five innings. Camryn Skundberg and Kirbie Mendenhall drove in the two Cobra runs.  

Parkland fell behind early in their final game of the trip, ASA College-Miami scored twice in the top of the first by way of a home run and a one-out single. The Silver Storm threatened to add on to the lead. but Mendenhall tight-roped out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam with a strikeout and ground out.

The Cobras rallied to tie the game with single tallies in their turn in the first and second innings. Cutting the lead in half, Kate Beckemeyer led off with a single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly by Camryn Skundberg. Back-to-back singles with one out in the second inning scored the tying run, as Mendenhall helped her own cause with an RBI to bring in Lauren Wendling.

However, ASA College would respond with single tallies of their own. With runners at the corners and no one out in the third, the Silver Storm initiated a run-down with a double steal attempt. Parkland nabbed the runner at the first in a rundown, but the go-ahead run scampered home. ASA College added fourth and fifth runs in the fourth and sixth innings with a pair of two-out single.