The Griffins baseball team headed down south for spring break to Sunshine State Florida for a nine-game tournament in a span of just one week. They started their tournament off by splitting games with Northwood University. The next day they faced Grand Valley State University in a doubleheader, where the Griffins pulled off the sweep winning 6-3 and 3-2. The highlight of the tournament came when they travelled an hour away to face the No. 1 ranked team in the nation, University of Tampa (UT). The Griffins did not back down as they upset the Spartans 11-8 in their first ever win against UT. They then went on to win three of their last four games of the trip to close out the tournament with a 7-2 record. Currently the Griffins are holding a 15-10 record, losing their last three games, but are determined to bounce back. The Griffins will host a doubleheader against California University of Pennsylvania on April 7.
On the other end of the diamond, the Griffins softball team travelled down to Clermont, Fla. to play in the PFX Spring Games. The Lady Griffins headed into the tournament winless, but were able to get their first glimpse of glory after beating Concord University 4-1 in their first game of the tournament. Although they were scheduled to play against ten different teams, due to rainy conditions, one game got cancelled. During this time, the Lady Griffins and other tournament teams decided to use that time to have a dance-off, which went viral on social media. The Lady Griffins went back and forth with wins and losses, but ended up finishing 4-5 for the spring break week. Ten games later, the Griffins are currently 8-15 as they host Slippery Rock University in a doubleheader on April 7.
Although the men’s lacrosse team did not exactly travel to Florida for spring break like the other fellow Griffins teams, they did meet at a neutral destination to play the Florida Tech Panthers. In this battle, the Griffins came up short, losing by a final score of 5-3. Since then, the Griffins have bounced back and won three of their last four games. Griffin standout Bennett Johnson has 13 goals and six assists so far on the season.The Griffins are holding a 5-3 record at the moment as they will travel to Lake Erie College on April 8 to play the Storm in a G-MAC face-off.
The women’s lacrosse team on the other hand did get the opportunity to travel down to Florida for spring break. Their first game was against Saint Leo University where the lady Griffins defeated the Lions 15-9. The next two games were against top 10 ranked teams in the nation. No. 7 Rollins College and No. 5 Florida Southern College were a bit too much for the Lady Griffins to handle, as they both defeated the Lady Griffins by scores of 9-7 and 21-10. Although only finishing the three-game spread with one win, coming back to PSAC play, the Lady Griffins have won their last four games against No. 10 Mercyhurst, No. 13 Lock Haven, Edinboro University and No. 20 Indiana University of Pennsylvania. The Lady Griffins are ranked No. 18 in the nation with a 6-4 record as their next game is home against Bloomsburg University on April 7.
The final team that travelled down south to Orlando, Fla. was the tennis team. With seven Lady Griffins, this young team only finished with a 2-5 spring break tournament record but did gain vital experience for upcoming years. The Lady Griffins are currently on a three-game team-match winning streak as they travel to California University of Pennsylvania on April 9.
Published By: Paige Parise