LAKELAND â€" When freshman Alyssa Bryan stepped on the field for Massachusetts-Lowell in her college debut, she probably had no idea Saturday’s doubleheader would come down to her pitching against a Florida Southern lineup running in full stride. After watching the Moccasins pick up 14 hits in an 8-5 game one victory, she at least knew what she was up against when she came out of the bullpen again in game two, and helped the River Hawks notch a 6-5, extra-inning win for the split.
Bryan and the River Hawks were playing their first games of the season after getting rained out twice Friday on their spring break trip to Florida. The Moccasins (13-10) already had more than 20 games under their belt, and tagged the River Hawks for 26 hits in the doubleheader, including six by Bethany Boomer, and four apiece from Heather Raulerson and Lindsey Powell. Along with three RBI from Erin Foley and a two-run homer by Ashley Hunt, that group helped the Mocs start Saturday with a win before the day ended badly with their fourth extra-inning loss of the season.
In the opener, Florida Southern had at least one hit in all but the first inning, yet the game was still scoreless going into the bottom of the fourth. That’s when the Mocs scored three runs on six hits to take control of the game. Raulerson and Powell had the first two, and Foley’s single to center drove in the first run of the afternoon. Christine Clark singled in another run and an RBI single by Dani Blake made it 3-0.
The Mocs added three more in the fifth inning when Peggy Alex doubled, stole second and came home on a balk, and Foley later followed an intentional walk to Powell with a two-run single. The River Hawks then scored their first run in the top of the sixth on an RBI single by Bri Mahoney, but Hunt put the Mocs comfortably in front again with her two-run homer in the bottom of the inning.
That home run proved to be crucial too, as the River Hawks scored four times in the top of the seventh inning, and were able to get the tying run to the plate. They’d had only three hits off Brittaney Alderman in the first six innings, but got three more in the seventh after loading the bases on a hit batter and two walks. Krista MacKenzie knocked in all three of those runners with a double into the left centerfield gap, cutting the Mocs’ lead to 8-4.
Alderman got a ground ball to short for the second out of the inning, but Elyssa Boris singled softly up the middle to drive in MacKenzie, and Mahoney followed with her third hit of the game to put runners at the corners. Alderman was able to end the game though by catching a pop-up by Lindsi Panarelli, improving to 8-4 on the season. She gave up six hits, struck out eight and walked five.
Game two seemed to be going well for Florida Southern as the Mocs took a 4-1 lead, only to see Lowell again score four runs in the top of the seventh. This time, it was enough for the River Hawks to take the lead, and it gave Bryan a chance to earn her first college win.
Bryan had actually pitched late in game one, and gave up the home run to Hunt before she was called upon again late in game two. Peggy Alex had just given the Mocs a 4-1 lead with an RBI single in the bottom of the sixth when new Lowell coach Sean Cotter brought in Bryan with two on and two out. She got Raulerson on a fly ball to right, keeping the score where it was, and giving her teammates a chance to rally in the seventh.
At that point, Morgan Brown had held the River Hawks to just four hits, two of them infield singles; but the seventh started with back-to-back hits by Mahoney and Panarelli, and after a strikeout of Bryan, pinch-hitter Caelyn Ford was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Brown was able to get out number two when Meagan Guy grounded out to second, though it brought in a run to make the score 4-2.
Panarelli then scored on a passed ball, and that’s when things got a little strange. With pinch-runner Hilary Hopkins now at third, Brown walked Katelyn Hebert, who wasn’t content to stay at first. Before the Mocs could get the ball back to Brown in the pitcher’s circle, Hebert kept running toward second where Raulerson attempted to throw her out. The ball was caught by Alex, but in the meantime, Hopkins broke for the plate and was able to slide in just under the tag on the return throw home, tying the game at four.
To make matters worse for Florida Southern, Hebert ended up at third on the play and MacKenzie put down a successful squeeze bunt to bring her in with the go-ahead run.
Suddenly trailing 5-4, the Mocs had to pull off a rally of their own in the bottom of the seventh just to get the game into extra innings. They did it by loading the bases with none out on singles by Alderman and Powell, and a fielder’s choice when shortstop Stephanie Rollo was unable to tag Alderman going by on a ground ball hit by Foley. After a long discussion, the umpires stood by the initial call, bringing Clark to the plate and putting Bryan in a major hole.
Clark hit a line drive to the outfield that almost got over MacKenzie in center, but she made the catch for out number one, even though Alderman was able to tag and score on the play. After a bunt moved Foley to second, Dani Blake hit a ground ball to second that was fielded cleanly by Guy, but her hurried throw to first was low. Heather Ross saved the game for Lowell, however, by scooping it out of the dirt for the final out of the inning.
With Clark having relieved Brown at the end of the seventh inning, the River Hawks started the eighth with a base hit by Elyssa Boris, and a bad-hop single by Mahoney, her fifth hit of the doubleheader. Clark got two ground outs after that, with the runners moving up a base, but Mahoney was able to score the winning run on a wild pitch.
Bryan was put to the test again in the bottom of the seventh when she gave up a leadoff single to Boomer, who went four-for-five in the game to lift her batting average to .432. Alex then ripped a ball towards leftfield, only to have it snagged by Rollo at short. Raulerson bunted Boomer into scoring position and Alderman, who already had two hits and two RBI, was intentionally walked to bring up Powell. Twice during the at-bat, Powell hit hard-hit balls to left that were foul before Bryan eventually got her on a fly ball that Hebert caught while running toward the leftfield line.
That gave Bryan the win, while Clark took the loss, falling to 4-6.
Florida Southern remains at home for its next doubleheader, taking on Hillsdale (MI) on Thursday at 6:00 p.m. Massachusetts-Lowell will remain in Florida to complete a scheduled 16-game road trip to the Sunshine State.
