ST. AUGUSTINE â€" Two games, two wins, two more shutouts and only two hits allowed â€" it was all in a day’s work for the Florida Southern pitching staff. Behind a pair of combined one-hitters, as well as 20 hits from their own lineup, the Moccasins ran their winning streak to 10 games with 8-0 and 5-0 wins over Georgia Southwestern.
Three Florida Southern pitchers combined on the first shutout, with Brittany Minton (6-0) pitching three hitless innings to start the game, Christine Clark doing the same for two innings, and Heidi Schumacher wrapping things up in the sixth. One night after pitching a five-inning no-hitter against Armstrong Atlantic State, and facing the minimum 15 batters, Minton again faced the minimum in her three-inning stint versus Georgia Southwestern. She walked Heather Chambers leading off the second inning, but Heather Raulerson gunned her down attempting to steal. Minton got the next batters to end the second, and struck out the side in the third.
Clark entered the game at that point and struck out four of the six batters she faced in the fourth and fifth innings. The Hurricanes finally got their first hit in the sixth when Brandi Pratt hit a bloop single into short right center off Schumacher.
The Moccasins (11-1) scored in five of the six innings in which they batted during game one, including the first when Sara Lovestrand doubled and came home on a sacrifice fly by Lindsey Powell. After a scoreless second, the Mocs scored three times in the third, once in both the fourth and fifth innings, and two in the sixth to win by the eight-run rule for the fourth straight game.
The three-run third came with the assistance of two Georgia Southwestern (5-13) errors. Dani Blake had led things off with a base hit and two batters later, Peggy Alex reached on the first of the Hurricane miscues. Powell then walked to load the bases for Angela Williams and the Moccasin designated player just missed what would have been the third grand slam of her career. Instead, Shea Weaver caught the ball in deep center, with Blake tagging at third for the second run of the game. Natalie Lang followed with a single that brought in Alex, and Powell scored on the Hurricanes’ second error of the inning.
An RBI single by Powell made it 5-0 in the fourth inning, and Lang singled in front of an Elli Howell triple in the fifth to make it 6-0.
Needing two more runs to win by the run rule, the Mocs got them in the top of the sixth after Lovestrand and Alex started the inning with back-to-back singles. Powell walked for the second time in the game, loading the bases, and Williams drilled a single into left center that scored two runs. It gave Williams three RBI in the game.
The Moccasins took a little bit longer to score their first runs in the second game, though the end result was still a shutout victory. This time it was a combined effort by Morgan Brown and Clark who gave Florida Southern its sixth consecutive shutout.
Brown (5-1) went five innings and allowed only an infield single to Shea Weaver in the top of the first. She also hit a batter in the third inning, but turned a 1-6-3 double play to end the threat. The day ended for Brown after the fifth inning when she set down the Hurricanes on just three pitches. The sophomore lowered her ERA to 0.23 and has allowed only seven hits in 30.2 innings.
Even with those numbers, Brown is only second in the Sunshine State Conference in earned run average. By pitching the final two innings in perfect fashion, Clark extended her scoreless inning streak to 14.0 at the start of her career. She added two more strikeouts as well.
Offensively, the Moccasins got two hits apiece from Powell, Williams and Lang, though none of them were involved in the Mocs’ first run of the game. It was Raulerson who walked leading off the bottom of the third, and Alex who later doubled her home. Powell then singled in Alex and the Mocs were up 2-0.
Lang started the fourth inning with a walk and Howell followed her with a single, setting up two more runs for the Moccasins. Raulerson put down a bunt to move them over and reached base herself when the ball was dropped at first base. Lovestrand walked on four pitches to force in one run and Raulerson scored on a passed ball.
The Mocs’ final run came in the fifth when Powell, Williams and Lang started the inning with three straight singles. Lang’s RBI gave the Lakeland native nine RBI in four games over the weekend. She also went nine-for-12 and drew a pair of walks. Williams had a big weekend too, going eight-for-11 with five RBI and two walks, and Powell was seven-for-10 for four RBI and two walks.
Florida Southern begins Sunshine State Conference play on Monday when it hosts Nova Southeastern in a single game at 7:00 p.m.
