The Eastern Florida State College softball team will open its Citrus Conference season Tuesday with a doubleheader against No. 11 Seminole State College at 1 p.m. The game is the first of 18 conference matches for EFSC this season. Seminole State, which is 11-1 on the year and has won nine straight games, will host the No. 12 Titans. EFSC enters the matchup with a 12-2 record and leads the FCSAA in batting average at .408.
The Titans' Emma Bastian is hitting .548 this season, ranking fifth in the FCSAA. Teammate Julianna Nieves has seven home runs, tied for first in the FCSAA, and is batting .483 with 18 RBIs. Jaelynne Whipple, Aracelis Jimenez, and Avery Velazquez are all hitting .500 or better heading into the game.
Seminole State's offense has been dominant, averaging 6.2 runs per game. EFSC's pitching staff, led by junior pitcher Maria Gonzalez, will look to slow down the hosts. Gonzalez has a 2.11 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 45 innings this season.
The doubleheader is the first of three conference games for EFSC in the next two weeks. The Titans' season opener was a 6-2 win over Florida Southwestern State College on Feb. 17. The Citrus Conference season concludes in late May with the conference tournament in Cocoa.