FORT MYERS, Fla. - Junior Whitney West had two hits, including a three-run triple in a pivotal six-run third inning that helped the LIU Brooklyn softball team run away with a 9-0 win over Quinnipiac on Friday. Later in the day, the Blackbirds dropped a 7-1 decision to Florida Gulf Coast on the opening day of the FGCU Spring Break Classic.

Against Quinnipiac, freshman Victoria Zamora hit her first career home run and sophomore Kylie Mulholland registered a two-run double to supply sophomore pitcher Shelley Procter all the offense she would need. Procter held the Bobcats to just two hits while striking out four to register a five-inning, complete-game shutout and propel the Blackbirds to their fourth win of the year.

With the contest scoreless and after Procter worked around a leadoff single in the top of the second, LIU went to work with the bats in the bottom half. Zamora reached on an error and promptly stole second, before junior Celinna Cosio walked to put a pair on with nobody out. Two batters later, Mulholland drilled a two-bagger to left to plate both runners and give the Blackbirds a 2-0 lead. Mulholland moved to third on a passed ball, then scored on a wild pitch to put the score at 3-0. LIU threatened for more, as sophomore Nikki Schroeder walked and West singled, but stranded both runners.

Procter needed just 11 pitches to set the Bobcats down in order in the third, and the Blackbirds kept the bats hot when they came to the plate in the bottom of the inning. After the initial batter in the frame grounded out, Zamora drove the first pitch she saw in the at-bat over the left-field wall to nudge LIU Brooklyn in front 4-0. A single from Cosio forced Quinnipiac to make a pitching change, but reliever Casey Herzog fared no better than her predecessor.

Senior Nicole Archer greeted Herzog's first pitch with a single right back through the box to put a pair on, then Mulholland walked to load the bases with just one out. Herzog did get the next batter in the inning to foul out, putting her one out away from limiting the damage to just one. But senior Madison Green was issued a base on balls to force home a run, then West continued the onslaught with her bases-clearing triple to right that extended the LIU lead to 8-0.

Another walk in the inning put runners on the corners for freshman Angie Vazquez, who rounded out the scoring in the frame with an opposite-field single to move the score to 9-0. The large lead was more than enough for Procter, who allowed just a one-out single in the fifth over the final two innings to earn her second win of the year.

In the nightcap against the Eagles, the home team got on the board in the first on an RBI single by Alexis Ross. In the second, FGCU tacked on two more with a run-scoring groundout and a two-run single by Kelsey Carpenter that put the score at 4-0.

A fielder's choice by Florida Gulf Coast made the margin 5-0 in the third before the Blackbirds finally got on the board two innings later. Archer singled with one out and, after a groundout moved her into scoring position, an error by the Eagles put runners on the corners. Green stepped to the plate and legged out an infield single to drive in Archer and pull LIU to within 5-1.

But FGCU tacked on two insurance runs in the sixth inning and starting pitcher Shelby Morgan kept the Blackbirds at bay to record her fifth win of the year.

LIU Brooklyn continues play at the FGCU Four Points by Sheraton Spring Break Classic on Saturday, Mar. 7 with games against Boston University and Pitt.