SAVANNAH â€" Sara Lovestrand and Elli Howell had the big hits in a come-from-behind eight-inning victory in game one, and Morgan Brown and Heidi Schumacher combined for a 3-hit shutout in game two as Florida Southern swept a doubleheader from Armstrong Atlantic State, 5-2 and 6-0.
The Moccasins (15-2) trailed 2-0 in the opener, and were down to their last strike in the seventh inning when Lovestrand drove a 3-2 pitch over the centerfield fence to tie game at two. It was the third straight game in which Lovestrand went deep, and her fifth home run of the season. That came after a costly error allowed Heather Raulerson to reach base with one out.
Once the game went to extra innings, Armstrong Atlantic imploded in the top of the eighth with four errors, leading to three Florida Southern runs in quick succession. Lindsey Powell was placed at second base under the tie-breaker rule and the Pirates made their first error right away when Angela Williams hit a ground ball to short. Powell took third on the play, and Williams moved to second on a bunt by Natalie Lang. That brought one of the Mocs’ hottest hitters to the plate in Howell, and she delivered a single up the middle that scored Powell with the go-ahead run. When the ball was mishandled in center field, Williams also scored.
It got worse for the Pirates (12-10). With Howell still at first, Ashley Hunt surprised the defense with a bunt down the first base line. The ball was fielded but the throw was wild, ending up in foul territory. Even then, the Mocs wouldn’t have scored, but the return throw rolled through the infield, allowing Howell to score from third.
All of that made a winner of Christine Clark, who entered the game in relief of Brittany Minton to start the seventh inning. Clark gave up a single to Casey Saunders and a walk to Lauren Zachry, but came back to strike out Baillie Temples to send the game to extra innings. She got a fly ball and two strikeouts in the eighth as the freshman from Naples improved to 3-0 on the year. All three of those wins have come this week in relief.
Minton gave up just five hits and no walks in six innings, but AASU first baseman Nicole Huddleston who caused problems. Minton hit Huddleston with a pitch with one out in the bottom of the fourth, a run that eventually scored on a wild pitch. The Pirates tried to score another run on the play, but Lovestrand threw that one out at the plate when Raulerson’s initial throw from the backstop rolled out to shortstop.
Huddleston later hit her fourth home run of the season, a line drive to left that gave the Pirates a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the sixth before the Mocs began their comeback.
Florida Southern didn’t wait nearly as long to score in game two, though again it was a two-run homer that accounted for the first runs. This time it came in the top of the first inning when Williams went deep after a base hit by Peggy Alex.
The Moccasins would score three more in the second inning after it started with a double from Raulerson and a single from Dani Blake. Lovestrand reached on a fielder’s choice but the Pirates couldn’t get an out on the play, bringing Alex to the plate with the bases loaded and none out. The sophomore second baseman hit a long drive into the leftfield corner that nearly left the park, hitting off the fence instead. With the runners having to hold position, it went for a long single, with Raulerson scoring to give the Mocs a 3-0 lead. A ground ball by Powell and a throwing error gave Florida Southern two more runs, and the Mocs were up 5-0 at the end of two innings.
In the third, Hunt led off with a double and scored on a wild pitch.
In the circle, Brown and Schumacher held the Pirates to only three hits. Two of those came in the bottom of the fourth when Heather Walker doubled leading off and Jessica Strong hit a single; both runners were left in scoring position. Brown (6-1) went six innings for the win, striking out two and walking one. Schumacher pitched a 1-2-3 seventh to finish the shutout.
Florida Southern will play three games on Friday at the Wolves Invitational, hosted by West Georgia. The day begins with a 9:00 a.m. contest against Georgia College. The Mocs will also face North Alabama and Alabama-Huntsville later in the day.
