LAKELAND â€" It took extra innings for Florida Southern to beat Ashley Jones each of the last two years, and when Jones finally found a way to beat the Moccasins, that took extra innings too. Palm Beach Atlantic’s top gun survived threat after threat, but with the aid of 14 strikeouts and a two-run double by Erica Walters, Jones and the Sailfish pulled out a 3-1, nine-inning win in game one, and completed the sweep with a 3-2 win in game two.
A senior from Jensen Beach, Florida, Jones had suffered a 1-0, 10-inning loss to the Moccasins in 2008, and a 3-2, nine-inning loss last year in addition to another loss in which she allowed only two earned runs. This year, she’d posted a 2-3 record in her first five starts, but had a 0.84 ERA as the Sailfish (6-4) struggled to score runs. They struggled again while facing Florida Southern’s Brittaney Alderman, but this time found enough offense to earn the win.
The Moccasins (4-2) actually out-hit the Sailfish 8-4 in game one, but left four runners in scoring position and had two others called out at third. They were also denied in the fifth inning by PBA shortstop Caitlin Bouschet, whose diving stop of an infield single by Erin Foley kept the ball on the infield and prevented the Mocs from scoring the go-ahead run. Bouschet also scored two of PBA’s three runs against Alderman, a fourth-inning run that came after she reached on an error, and the eventual game-winner in the top of the ninth after she was hit by a pitch leading off the inning.
A base hit by Natalia Ojeda followed the hit batter, and a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position. Alderman got a strikeout and a pop-up and nearly got out of trouble, but Walters hit a ball into deep left that bounced off the fence for a two-run double that gave PBA a 3-1 lead.
Jones then retired the Mocs in order in the bottom of the ninth to even her record at 3-3. The 14 strikeouts were far short of her career-high though, as she fanned 22 in a game last year against Central Baptist (AR). The win over Florida Southern didn’t come easy, as the Mocs made her work in almost every inning.
The Moccasins also got an outstanding pitching performance of their own from Alderman, who allowed only two earned runs on four hits, struck out seven and walked one. The freshman from George Jenkins High School retired the first 10 batters of the game before Bouschet reached on an error in the top of the fourth and scored on a bloop double by Ojeda that barely eluded two Florida Southern fielders in short leftfield. Those were the only two base runners the Sailfish had through the first seven innings.
On the other hand, Florida Southern had several, but was able to score just one run. That came in the bottom of the fifth when Christine Clark led off with a double, and pinch-runner Brandy Pikus came home on a pinch-hit single by Bethany Boomer. In between, the Mocs also got a walk from Dezirae Parsons, and had runners at first and second when Foley came to bat with two out. Foley bounced a ball up the middle that Bouschet knocked down but was unable to get out of her glove in time for an out at either first or second. It was enough, however, to hold Parsons at third where she remained when Peggy Alex grounded out to end the inning.
The Mocs also got a single from Clark in the sixth and a double by Heather Raulerson in the seventh, but each time, Jones ended the inning with a big strikeout. In the eighth, Florida Southern got a leadoff single from Alex and a walk by Lindsey Powell, but Alex was cut down stealing on a strikeout/throw-out double play and Jones again ended the threat with a strikeout. The walk by Powell was the Mocs’ last base runner.
In game two, the Moccasins again had eight hits, with Powell and Mallory Butler each picking up two and driving in one run apiece. But again the Sailfish scored late to break a tie game, and again they got some timely defense to keep the Mocs from scoring.
The Mocs scored the first run of the game in the bottom of the second on Butler’s RBI single, but the Sailfish took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fourth on a two-run throwing error. Florida Southern then had a chance to quickly erase that with hits by Foley and Butler in the bottom of the fourth, but two big plays by the PBA outfield kept the Mocs from doing so. Leftfielder Chelsea Gravini threw out Foley on the bases and centerfielder Mari Stokes (who also had three hits in the game) made a sliding catch to rob Ashley Hunt of a single later in the inning.
The Mocs were able to tie the game, however, when they started the bottom of the fifth with three straight hits, the last of them a run-scoring single by Powell. With help from a double play though, PBA pitcher Heather Laird was able to hold Florida Southern there and keep the game knotted at two.
That gave her teammates a chance to re-claim the lead just a few minutes later. Miranda Welch, whose sacrifice in the fourth inning had set up PBA’s first two runs, led off the top of the sixth with a single and took second on two-out single by Bouschet. Ojeda then hit a slow roller to short and legged out an infield hit that brought in Welch with the go-ahead run.
PBA coach Kimmy Bloemers went to her bullpen at that point and brought in Chris Donovan, who set down Florida Southern in order in both the sixth and seventh innings for her first save. That also kept Laird undefeated on the season with a 3-0 record.
Christine Clark took the loss for Florida Southern, though she allowed only one earned run in a complete game effort. The Sailfish reached her for nine hits, but four of those were infield singles. She struck out one and walked one in falling to 2-1.
Despite the two losses, the Moccasins did see first baseman Elli Howell set a new school record in the doubleheader by extending her hitting streak to 20 games. The senior from Bartow hit safely in the final 14 games of 2009, and has picked up at least one hit in all six games this season. The old record of 18 was set by Beth Greig in 1987, and tied by Jesse Shepherd over a two-year span from 2004-05.
Florida Southern will open Sunshine State Conference play next weekend with a three-game series at Florida Tech. The Moccasins and Panthers play a single game on Friday at 2:00, and a doubleheader on Saturday at noon.
