CLERMONT â€" Elli Howell continued her hot-hitting March and pitchers Morgan Brown, Brittany Minton and Heidi Schumacher did the rest. With Howell picking up two hits and one RBI in each game, and the pitching staff tossing a pair of shutouts, Florida Southern swept a doubleheader from Merrimack (MA), 8-0 and 3-0.
The Moccasins (23-6) took control with four runs in the top of the second inning, three of them coming after a two-out error by the Warriors (5-3). The Mocs had scored their first run when Angela Williams drew a leadoff walk and came home on a double by Howell. When Heather Raulerson reached on a two-out error, the Mocs took advantage of it. A single by Dani Blake brought in Howell for run number two, and Sara Lovestrand’s two-run double made it 4-0.
In the fourth inning, it was another error that set up two more runs for the Moccasins. This one came right at the start and Lovestrand turned that one into a run with another two-base hit into the gap in left center. Lovestrand then scored on a two-out single by Peggy Alex.
The Mocs put the game away in the top of the fifth with sacrifice flies by Natalie Lang and Ashley Hunt. Howell was a part of that inning too with a triple, scoring the final run of the game on Hunt’s fly ball.
Playing as the home team in the second game of the doubleheader, the Moccasins scored all the runs they’d need in the bottom of the first inning. Lovestrand reached on an error and Alex followed that with a single, one of her three hits on the night. A bunt by Powell pushed both runners up another base, with Lovestrand scoring on a ground out by Williams and Alex scoring on a single by Howell.
The Mocs added an insurance run in the fifth when Alex doubled and scored on a single by Williams.
The shutout in game one came courtesy of Brown and Schumacher. Brown (9-1) went the first four innings, and allowed three hits and one walk. She struck out four in her ninth consecutive win and had to work around singles by Rachel Lazeau and Atlee Cahill in the fourth to keep the shutout going. Schumacher gave up one hit in the fifth inning as the Mocs won by the eight-run rule for the third time in four games.
The game two shutout came from Minton and Schumacher, and Minton (8-3) flirted with a perfect game for most of the night. The senior set down the side in order in each of the first four innings and also got the first out of the fifth before Lazeau reached on an infield single. The short pop-up was over the head of Minton and too far for Alex to reach even with a diving effort toward the pitching circle.
Jamie Millett then singled into left field, but Minton got an infield fly and line drive to Blake in centerfield to keep the Warriors off the scoreboard. Minton then survived a single and a walk in the sixth inning before giving way to Schumacher, who pitched a 1-2-3 seventh for the save. Minton struck out eight and walked one.
Florida Southern will be on the road again this weekend with four more neutral site games at Saint Leo. The Mocs face North Alabama in a doubleheader on Friday at noon, and 2nd-ranked Alabama-Huntsville on Saturday at noon.
