LAKELAND â€" The night may have been cold, but the Florida Southern bats certainly weren’t. Behind five hits apiece from Sara Lovestrand and Ashley Hunt, the Moccasins swept a doubleheader from Warner University Friday night, winning by scores of 11-3 and 7-2.
With the temperature falling into the mid-40’s by the end of the night, the Mocs (5-1) were forced to break out the cold weather gear for their 2009 home opener, but it made no difference at the plate. After picking up 16 hits in game one, they added 10 more in game two, had a .493 on-base percentage in the doubleheader and did not strike out in a single at-bat. Lovestrand had three hits in the first game, including a two-run double in the sixth inning that ended it by the eight-run rule. She followed that with a two-hit game in the nightcap and had a total of four RBI. Hunt also had three hits in the opener and two in game two.
Despite the big numbers put up by Florida Southern, it was Warner (1-3) that scored first on Friday night. With hits by Staci Fernandez and Hope Franklin, the Royals scored a run in the top of the first inning in game one, but their lead didn’t last long. When the Moccasins came to bat in the bottom of the first, they used six singles to score four runs of their own. Angela Williams’ base hit up the middle tied the game and another hit by Elli Howell brought in two more runs. Hunt’s first hit of the night then made it 4-1.
Hunt would later drive in another run with a single in the bottom of the third before the Royals cut the gap to 6-3 on a two-run homer by Danielle Fennimore in the top of the fourth.
An RBI single by Lovestrand in the fifth gave Florida Southern a 7-3 lead before the Mocs got a two-run homer from Williams and Lovestrand’s two-run double in the sixth. It was Williams’ second home run of the season.
Brittany Minton earned the win by pitching 5.1 innings and allowing one run on four hits. She struck out nine and walked one to improve to 3-0 on the season.
In game two, Florida Southern picked right up where it left off and scored seven runs on six hits in the bottom of the first inning. Lovestrand led off with a single, Peggy Alex was hit by a pitch, and a single by Lindsey Powell drove in Lovestrand with the initial run of the game. Alex also scored on the play when the throw from the outfield ended up in the Moccasin dugout.
A single by Natalie Lang, one of her three hits in the game, made it 3-0 and the Mocs got two more runs when both Heather Raulerson and Dani Blake were hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. Lovestrand then picked up her second hit of the inning, this one an RBI single that brought in Hunt, and a ground out by Alex produced the final run.
The Mocs made those seven runs stand up behind the pitching of Morgan Brown and Christine Clark, and subbed freely throughout the remainder of the game. The Royals, ranked #18 in the national NAIA poll, did score on a wild pitch in the top of the sixth, and triple by Fernandez in the top of the seventh.
Brown earned the win under a little-used provision in the rule book regarding re-entry of pitchers. The sophomore started the game and pitched two scoreless innings before giving way to Clark in the third. After Clark pitched three innings with four strikeouts and only one hit against her, she was replaced by Heidi Schumacher. Brown came back into the game before the end of the sixth inning and pitched the final two frames to finish the game. She pitched a total of four innings in the game and gave up just one hit to up her record to 2-1.
Florida Southern will be on the field again Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader against Northwood (FL) at 1:00.Â
