WEST PALM BEACH â€" Natalie Lang’s first hit of the year gave Florida Southern its first high-drama win of the year, and Heather Raulerson’s first big defensive play allowed both to happen. Lang’s two-out RBI single in the top of the ninth lifted the Moccasins to a 3-2 win over Palm Beach Atlantic in game one, while Morgan Brown and Christine Clark combined for a one-hit, 6-0 shutout in the nightcap.
In game one, the Moccasins held a 2-0 lead before the Sailfish tied the score with a home run in the bottom of the sixth. That helped send the game to extra innings, and the Sailfish nearly won it in the bottom of the eighth. A one-out error put the go-ahead run on base in the person of Becca Bolinger and a wild pitch moved her to second. After taking third on a fly ball to right, Bolinger tried to score when ball four to Caitlin Bouschet sailed to the backstop. Raulerson, however, got to it quickly and threw a strike to pitcher Brittany Minton who blocked the plate and put down the tag for the final out of the inning.
Revived for another inning, the Mocs made the most of it when Angela Williams gave them a spark with a two-out infield single. Williams then stole second and came around to score on Lang’s base hit to left.
Sailfish pitcher Ashley Jones had not given up a run in her first four starts of 2009, and the ninth-inning run scored by the Moccasins was the first earned run against her in 40.2 innings. The junior had already shutout Barry and Nova Southeastern, handing both Sunshine State Conference schools their only losses of the season to date. The Mocs had base runners against Jones in only three innings Thursday, but scored each time.
Minton earned the win for Florida Southern by allowing just three hits and has given up only six hits in 16 innings this year. It was the second year in a row she beat Jones in an extra inning game.
Neither team had a hit until PBA’s Dani Perrotti singled just past a diving Sara Lovestrand at short with two out in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Mocs got their first hit half an inning later.
Williams led off the top of the fifth with a base hit to left and was still at first two batters later when Elli Howell was called upon to bunt. Howell did the job, and when Jones’ throw to first was off target, Williams was off and running. She easily scored as the ball rattled around in foul territory before any PBA player could pick it up.
The Moccasins took their lead to 2-0 in the sixth inning with another unearned run after back-to-back two-out singles by Peggy Alex and Lindsey Powell. This one scored on a passed ball.
Palm Beach Atlantic put together a two-out rally of its own in the bottom of the inning, knotting the game at two. Chelsea Gravini reached base on a walk and cleanup hitter Caitlin Bouschet blasted the first pitch in her at-bat over the centerfield fence for a game-tying home run.
When neither team scored in the seventh, the Mocs found themselves in extra innings for the second straight game and the Sailfish were playing their third of the season.
In game two, the Moccasins scored single runs in the first and second innings, then exploded for four in the third to complete the sweep with a 6-0 win. Powell had three hits, including a solo home run that started the scoring, while Lang singled and scored in the second and picked up an RBI double in the third.
The early scoring made a winner of Brown, who pitched four hitless innings before being relieved by Clark. Brown struck out three and walked one. The Sailfish broke up the no-hitter when Mari Stokes singled with two out in the fifth, but Clark finished the shutout by allowing only one more base runner. The freshman from Naples earned a save in the first pitching appearance of her college career.
After Powell homered in the top of the first, the Mocs got an RBI single from Raulerson in the second and four straight two-out hits in the third inning that included Lang’s run-scoring double, an RBI triple from Williams and a two-run homer from Howell. The Moccasins finished with 10 hits in the game.
Florida Southern will play its home opener next Friday night, February 20, when it hosts Warner Southern in a doubleheader beginning at 6:00 p.m.
