MELBOURNE, Fla. -- The Barry University softball team (27-18, 9-7 SSC) fell to the Florida Tech Panthers (30-10, 9-7 SSC) 2-1 in the opening game of a three-game Sunshine State Conference series earlier this after noon at Varsity Field.

Erin Sutton (Sr., Parrish, Fla.) led off the third inning for the Bucs with a triple and later scored on Holli Davis' (Fr., Lake Havasu, Ariz.) RBI single to give Barry an early 1-0 lead. However, Florida Tech's Jennifer Salls and Kelly Dardon hit to back-to-back RBI singles and held on for the 2-1 win.

Ramie Garcia (Jr., Scottsdale, Ariz.) gave up two unearned runs on four hits and struck out six in the loss, while Florida Tech's Kristen Lane (13-4) earned the win allowing just one run and struck out nine.

Sutton led the Bucs went two-for-three at the plate and scored once to led the Bucs, while Florida Tech's Dardon went two-for-three with an RBI to lead the Panthers.

Both teams will return to action on Saturday, Apr. 16 at 1 pm to close out the series.

Florida Tech 2, Barry 1 (04/15/2005 at Miami Shores, Fla.)
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Barry............... 001 000 0 - 1 5 2 (27-18, 9-7 SSC)
Florida Tech........ 000 020 X - 2 4 0 (30-10, 9-7 SSC)
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Pitchers: Barry - Garcia. Florida Tech - Lane.
Win-Lane(13-4) Loss-Garcia(13-7) T-1:41 A-58
Game: SB0415A