SAINT LEO â€" Heather Raulerson and Peggy Alex opened the door for a 6-2 come-from-behind Florida Southern win in game one, but the Moccasins couldn’t quite close the door in game two as Saint Leo came from behind for a 4-3 win in 11 innings.
In game one, Florida Southern fell behind 2-0 when Saint Leo got a solo home run from Brittany Yates and scored on an error in the bottom of the second inning. It was Yates’ SSC-leading 11th home run of the season. After that, however, Brittaney Alderman took control of the game by retiring 11 straight batters while the Moccasins scored six unanswered runs.
Four of those runs came in the top of the third inning right after the Lions had scored their two runs in the bottom of the second. The Mocs had just two hits in the inning, but they also used a walk, a fielder’s choice, an error and a sacrifice fly to score their runs. The two hits came from their first two batters, with Raulerson bouncing one up the middle and Alex bringing her home with a double to center.
Alex took third on the throw to the plate and was forced to stay there when Bethany Boomer grounded out to short. Erin Foley then walked to put runners at the corners before Lindsey Powell hit a ground ball to second baseman Ana Castillo. Thinking the Mocs would try to score, Castillo came home with the throw, but Alex stayed at third and Powell ended up safe at first to load the bases. When Christine Clark hit a slow grounder to first, the Lions again came home with the throw, but this time it was low and late, with Alex sliding in for the tying run and Foley coming in behind her on the error.
Powell later scored the fourth run of the inning on Elli Howell’s fly ball to deep right.
In the top of the fifth, Boomer, Foley and Clark all hit doubles, producing two more runs for the Mocs, giving them a 6-2 lead they held for the rest of the game. Boomer and Foley each had two hits in the game, and Clark had two RBI.
Alderman (11-9) gave up just three hits while going the distance in the circle for Florida Southern. She struck out eight and walked three. Her streak of 11 straight outs ended in the bottom of the sixth with a single by Tiffinee Harvey and a walk by Yates, but Alderman got the final five Saint Leo batters to finish the game.
The Mocs had seven hits off Jaime Walker, who fell to 5-8.
In game two, Morgan Brown and Ashton Whidden traded zeros for three innings before the Mocs broke through with two runs in the top of the fourth. Powell got them started with a one-out single and Clark knocked her in with a wind-blown triple down the left field line that just eluded Dianne Gonzalez. Clark came home when Howell hit a ground ball to short, a play that also resulted in a throwing error, though the Mocs weren’t able to use it like they did in game one.
Florida Southern did get another run in the top of the sixth when Foley singled, moved to third on a double by Powell and came home on a single by Clark. But after giving up three straight hits to start the sixth, Whidden got three straight outs to end it without allowing another run.
In the bottom of the sixth, Brown ran out of gas for the Moccasins as Saint Leo’s first six hitters reached base on five hits and a walk. The first of those, Elysha Agen was thrown out trying to stretch a double, but Castillo and Harvey followed with singles and Yates walked to load the bases. Sarah Boyd made it hurt when she blasted a double off the bottom of the fence in right center, clearing the bases and tying the score at three.
After an infield hit by Walker put runners at the corners, Brown was replaced with Clark in the pitcher’s circle, and Clark got the final two outs to keep the game tied. She also retired the next 10 Saint Leo batters before walking Agen to start the bottom of the tenth. Meanwhile, the Mocs had runners on base in the seventh, eighth, ninth, 10th and the 11th, but couldn’t score. Twice they had runners at third and saw the inning end on hard-hit line drives.
Saint Leo finally got its first hit off Clark when Yates led off the bottom of the 11th with a ground ball single through the left side of the infield. She took second on a ground out by Boyd and Walker singled up the middle to bring her home with the winning run.
Whidden, who suffered an extra inning loss to the Mocs in the series opener on Tuesday, got the extra inning win this time by going all 11 innings, scattering 11 hits, striking out three and walking one. It gave her a 13-11 record on the season. Powell had three of those hits for Florida Southern, with Clark and Dezirae Parsons each picking up two.
Clark was the extra inning winner on Tuesday, but this time took the loss, falling to 9-9. She gave up just one run on two hits, struck out three and walked one in five innings of relief.
Florida Southern will be on the road this Saturday for a doubleheader against Palm Beach Atlantic, scheduled to begin at 2:00 p.m.
