SAINT LEO â€" Florida Southern took one from #2 on Saturday, and now, two years in a row, the Moccasins are responsible for ending the nation’s longest winning streak. Led by two RBI from Sara Lovestrand and two key hits by Angela Williams, 24th-ranked Florida Southern took down 2nd-ranked Alabama-Huntsville 6-5 in the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday, handing the Chargers their first loss of the season.
Alabama-Huntsville (21-1) won the second game, 4-0, behind a three-hit shutout by Sage Woodham and three RBI from Beth Lawson. By then, however, the Moccasins (23-9) had ended the Chargers’ 20-game winning streak that had been the longest currently going in Division II softball. Last year the Mocs brought a 35-game Barry winning streak to an end when the Buccaneers had been ranked #1 in the country.
The Moccasins spotted the Chargers a run in the top of the first inning when the visitors strung together three consecutive two-out hits. The last of those was a bouncing ground ball by Emily Roach through the left side of the infield that plated Lawson.
Florida Southern struck back with three in the bottom of the second, and like Huntsville, put together three straight hits to do it. The Moccasins did it at the start of the inning though, as Natalie Lang, Elli Howell and Ashley Hunt all singled, with Hunt’s hit tying the game at one. Huntsville pitcher Alex Lewis then got two outs but Lovestrand tripled into the leftfield corner, bringing in two more runs to give the Mocs a 3-1 lead.
The Mocs added to their lead one inning later when Williams doubled and scored on a combination of errors with Elli Howell batting.
The 4-1 lead disappeared in the top of the fifth when the Chargers scored three times to tie the score. The first two scored on a home run by Kelli Long, her third of the season, and her third against Florida Southern. Lawson almost went back-to-back with her, but was robbed of a home run by Lang who reached over the leftfield fence and pulled it back for the first out of the inning.
After the big catch by Lang, Huntsville knocked Florida Southern starting pitcher Brittany Minton out of the game with a double by Caitlin Lee. Christine Clark came in and got a ground ball for out number two, but gave up a single to Whitney Schrimsher that tied the game at four.
Undaunted, the Moccasins re-took the lead in the bottom half of the inning. A leadoff double by Lindsey Powell drove Lewis from the circle and Williams greeted relief pitcher Whitney Hawkins with a base hit up the middle. That hit scored pinch-runner Karlyn Scott with the go-ahead run. When Howell later hit a ground ball to short, the ball was thrown away for an error, allowing Williams to score all the way from first.
That extra run proved to be crucial. With the score 6-4, Long and Lawson started the seventh inning with a singles for Huntsville, and Long eventually scored on a fielder’s choice ground out by Roach. Lovestrand then fielded a grounder off the bat of Schrimsher and shoveled it to Alex for the force at second, bringing the game to an end.
Clark earned the win for Florida Southern in relief, pitching the final 2.2 innings. The freshman improved to 7-3 by allowing one run on three hits, striking out one and walking no one.
Lewis suffered her first loss against three wins, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits. In her four-plus innings, she struck out seven and walked none.
The Moccasins started strong in game two by loading the bases in the bottom of the first inning, but they were unable to score. Lawson kept a ground ball hit by Lang from going down the third base line and got a force out at the plate before Woodham induced a pop-up to keep the Mocs off the scoreboard.
After giving up an infield single to Williams as part of the first inning, Woodham didn’t allow another hit until Williams bunted for one with two out in the sixth. In between, the senior retired 15 of 16 Florida Southern batters, with an error in the third inning accounting for the Mocs’ only base runner during that time.
In the seventh, another error allowed Hunt to reach base and Dani Blake singled with two out to keep the inning alive. It could have been worse if not for a diving catch by second baseman Michelle Ingram that took a hit away from Howell at the start of the inning. Woodham then went 3-0 on Lovestrand but came back to get the out and end the game. It was Woodham’s eighth win without a loss this season.
Nearly all the Chargers’ runs came courtesy of Lawson, who’s two-out RBI single in the third inning knocked in the first run of the game. She later hit a two-run homer in the fifth for a 3-0 lead before another run scored that inning on a double by Emily Roach.
The Florida Southern defense prevented at least two more runs from scoring too, with Lang throwing out a runner at the plate in the third inning, with help from a perfect relay by Lovestrand; and Blake throwing another one out at home, with help from Peggy Alex. The Mocs also got two shutout innings from Heidi Schumacher, giving them a chance to get back in the game.
The Moccasins return home for a doubleheader on Wednesday at 6:00 p.m., as they host Palm Beach Atlantic at Barnett Field.
