DeLAND, Fla. – Troy State softball team was swept in its 2001 Trans America Athletic Conference opener at Stetson.

Game one was a classic pitcher’s duel between Stetson’s Kelli Lightner and TSU’s Kim Unkenholz, with Stetson coming away with a 1-0 win.

In the eighth, the Lady Trojans (24-14, 0-2 TAAC) opened up with a base hit on a bunt by Renie Mitchell. On the very next pitch, Kami Marrott lined a shot right back at Lightner, who caught Mitchell off of first to end the Troy State threat.

Stetson (17-16, 4-0 TAAC) came back with a rally of their own. Lightner led off with a base hit to right field. After a ground out forced Lightner out at second, Leah Wilbanks advanced into scoring position, stealing second.

After Unkenholz struck out Tiffany Tolleson, the Troy State defense fell apart. Mariah Cobb’s ground ball to shortstop was misplayed by Mitchell, putting runners at the corners. Still with two outs, Emily Harris’ ground ball was picked up cleanly by Mindy Porep at third, but her throw was in the dirt, allowing Wilbanks to score from third with the winning run.

Unkenholz was saddled with the loss, dropping her record to 11-5. She gave up just six hits and one run, which was unearned. She struck out seven and walked none in seven and two-third innings.

Game two began as slugfest, with Troy State jumping out to an early 2-0 lead. Kami Marrott hit her fourth home run of the season, a two-run shot to put the Lady Trojans ahead.

Stetson answered back with an offensive barrage in the second. The Hatters scored five runs on just three hits. Mariah Cobb drove in two runs on her single to right field to put Stetson ahead 5-2.

The Lady Trojans would answer back with a run in the third. Swift led off with a single and score on Marrott’s double to the gap in right-center, cutting the lead to 5-3.

That would be as close as Troy State would get as both teams went back to their starters from the first game. Unkenholz did not allow a hit in three innings of relief for Troy State, and Stetson’s Lightner came back with four innings of scoreless relief for the win, allowing just two hits and striking out three.

The Lady Trojans are in action again next Thursday as they play host to TAAC-rival Mercer.