BABSON PARK â€" Brittany Minton and Morgan Brown did everything Florida Southern needed them to do in their season-opening doubleheader at Webber International. Unfortunately for the Moccasins, only one of them ended up with a win. Minton tossed a three-hit shutout for a 4-0 victory in game one, and Brown allowed just two hits in game two, but the Mocs were forced to settle for a split after a 1-0, extra-inning loss.
Minton, who was fifth in the country last year with a 0.86 ERA, certainly got off to a good start in 2009 - even if she didn’t get off to a good start against the Warriors. The senior pitcher gave up base hits to the first two hitters she faced and also hit a batter before striking out Rachael Jackson with the bases loaded to end the first inning. She settled down after that, allowing only three base runners the rest of the day, with one coming on a swinging strike three that bounced all the way to the backstop. Minton finished with 10 strikeouts and only one walk.
Despite allowing one less hit than Minton, Brown wasn’t as fortunate in the outcome. The sophomore handcuffed the Warriors all afternoon, but the Moccasins were unable to score. When the game went to extra innings, Webber used the international tie-breaker, a ground ball to first and two-out throwing error to score in the bottom of the eighth.
Offensively, the Moccasins had 14 hits in the doubleheader, with Sara Lovestrand and Heather Raulerson picking up two in each game. It was that pair that gave Florida Southern three of its four runs in the opener.
With the game still scoreless, Raulerson doubled to lead off the top of the third and moved to third on a bunt by Dani Blake. Lovestrand then brought her home with a base hit up the middle before scoring on a single by Lindsey Powell. The Mocs then got solo home runs from Lovestrand in the fifth and Angela Williams in the sixth to produce the 4-0 win.
While the Mocs had 10 base runners off Webber pitcher Kristen LeFan, they had 15 against Kristin Stewart in game two but left 14 of them on base. Nine of those were stranded in scoring position, including two in the seventh and two in the eighth. The Mocs also got a runner to third with only one out in the fifth inning after a leadoff single by Lovestrand; but LeFan (now in center) made a running catch of a line drive by Powell, and Stewart got her only strikeout of the game to end the threat.
Meanwhile, the Warriors didn’t have a hit off Brown until LeFan led off the fourth with an infield single. Heather Durrance followed with another hit, but Brown retired the next nine Webber batters before issuing a leadoff walk in the bottom of the seventh. A ground ball moved that runner into scoring position before Ashley Hunt speared a line drive to third and Powell brought in a fly ball to right that sent the game to extra innings.
The Mocs had a golden opportunity in the top of the eighth with pinch-runner Karlyn Scott placed at second and Hunt drawing a leadoff walk. Raulerson put down a bunt to move both of them into scoring position, but a ground out and pop-up ended the inning. The Warriors then made the most of their chance in the bottom half of the inning to earn the split.
Florida Southern will play its next game on Thursday, February 12 at Palm Beach Atlantic. That doubleheader begins at 4:00 p.m.
