LAKELAND â€" Elli Howell’s knockout punch came early in game one, but in game two she wore down the Seahawks one shot at a time. Howell’s three-run double propelled Florida Southern to a 5-0 win in the opener, and her two hits and one walk set up three more runs in the nightcap, as the Mocs completed a sweep of Northwood (FL) with an 8-0 win.
In extending their winning streak to six games, the Moccasins (7-1) also got shutout pitching from Brittany Minton, Christine Clark and Morgan Brown. But it was Howell who made it count, going four-for-five with one walk in the doubleheader.
Game one was scoreless in the bottom of the third inning when Florida Southern used three hits and two walks to put four runs on the board. A one-out triple by Sara Lovestrand and infield single by Peggy Alex produced the first run, and walks to Lindsey Powell and Natalie Lang loaded the bases with two out. Howell then hit a ball well over the head of leftfielder Kendall Brooks that brought all three base runners home for a 4-0 lead.
The Mocs added another run in the bottom of the fourth after Dani Blake singled up the middle to start the inning. A ground ball by Lovestrand moved her into scoring position and she came around to score on another hit by Alex.
The Moccasins threatened again in each of the final two innings, but were unable to add to their total. They left Angela Williams stranded at third after a leadoff triple in the fifth; and despite hits from Heather Raulerson and Lovestrand in the sixth, they were denied by sharp defense from Northwood middle infielders Alyssa Santos and Chantelle Neff.
In the pitcher’s circle, Minton and Clark combined on the shutout, with Minton going the first four innings for the win. She allowed four hits, walked no one and struck out four to improve her record to 4-0. Clark went the final three innings for her second save and got out of trouble in the sixth when backup first baseman Michaela Stockhill grabbed a line drive off the bat of Santos and turned it into a double play.
Santos had two of Northwood’s six hits in the game after entering the doubleheader with a .571 batting average (16-for-28).
In game two, the Moccasins scored single runs in the first, second, fourth and fifth innings before putting four on the board in the sixth for an 8-0 victory. Three of those innings were started by Howell, though the Mocs also got two RBI apiece from Powell, Lovestrand and Ashley Hunt.
Howell’s first at-bat came leading off the bottom of the second with the Mocs already holding a 1-0 lead. The junior first baseman doubled to left, and with the help of a bunt single by Blake, ended up at third with one out. A fly ball by Lovestrand was deep enough to score her for a 2-0 lead.
In the fourth, Howell led off with a walk and later scored on an error. The Mocs then made it 4-0 in the fifth inning when Bethany Boomer tripled into the rightfield corner and scored on a ground ball by Powell.
Conveniently for the Moccasins, Howell was again the leadoff batter in the bottom of the sixth and this time reached with a single. Hunt then lined a pitch into left field that Kendall Brooks attempted to catch on the dive, but she came up short. That allowed the ball to roll all the way to the fence and Hunt easily circled the bases for an inside-the-park home run.
Raulerson followed that with a single and Lovestrand doubled her in to make it 7-0. After a wild pitch moved her to third, Lovestrand was caught in a run-down attempting to score on a ground ball by Karlyn Scott. She made it safely back to third, but the Seahawks fell asleep and with no one guarding home plate, Lovestrand made another attempt to score and this time was successful. That ended the game by the eight-run rule.
Brown went the distance in the circle for her first shutout of the year, allowing just two hits with no walks and six strikeouts. Both of those hits came in the second inning, but Brown got a bouncer right back to her that ended the inning without a run being scored. The sophomore has allowed just five hits in 21.2 innings this year and is now 3-1.
Florida Southern will be on the road next weekend for a pair of doubleheaders in St. Augustine. The first is on Friday night at 6:00 against Armstrong Atlantic State (GA), with the second one at noon on Saturday against Georgia Southwestern. All of those games are hosted by Flagler College.
