BOCA RATON â€" According to the roster, Lynn leadoff batter Brittany Gross stands 5-3, and it’s doubtful any of her first three hits on Friday traveled that distance. Her fourth one didn’t go much further, but they all count just the same, and the Knights used two of those hits to score their only two runs in a 2-1 win over Florida Southern.
Gross came into the day leading the Sunshine State Conference with a .436 batting average and it was easy to see why. Between bunting, slapping and good old-fashioned speed, the left-handed hitting junior outfielder proved impossible to throw out, even when the Moccasins knew what was coming. (She even dropped down a bunt with two strikes in the bottom of the fourth.) They certainly knew in the sixth inning with the go-ahead run at third and Gross at the plate. With the infielders playing in as close as they dared, Gross still found a hole, and it was that hit that gave Lynn the victory.
Elizabeth Hawkins had started the bottom of the sixth with a bunt single of her own, and the Knights (18-22, 2-8) immediately bunted her into scoring position. She took third on a ground ball to second, bringing Gross to the plate with two out and the game on the line. Moccasin pitcher Morgan Brown got ahead in the count 0-2, but Gross came back to poke a ground ball between Brown and third baseman Erin Foley. Even with shortstop Dezirae Parsons also playing in, it was hit to the one spot where the Mocs couldn’t defend it. By the time Parsons fielded the ball, there was no play at first, and Hawkins had scampered in with the winning run.
The Knights were able to take a 1-0 lead by picking up four singles in the bottom of the third, including a bunt single by Gross leading off the inning. A ground ball moved her to second, Kathleen Smith singled her to third, and Gross came home on a base hit by Nikki Pallister. Rachael Larkins then got the Knights’ fourth hit of the inning on a high bouncer to short, but Brown got a force out at the plate and a line drive to third to hold Lynn to only one run.
The Moccasins (20-18, 6-10) tied the game one inning later by also turning a leadoff single into a run. Lindsey Powell started the inning with a shot into left center, was bunted into scoring position by Christine Clark, and scored on a base hit up the middle by Elli Howell.
Powell and Howell each had two of Florida Southern’s six hits in the game, with Foley and Heather Raulerson picking up the others. Raulerson’s was a double with one out in the top of the seventh that put a scare into the Knights before Lynn pitcher Cristie Kaufman got two infield pop-ups to end the game.
Kaufman struck out five and walked one to improve to 11-8.
Brown fell to 3-2 for Florida Southern, striking out one and walking one in another loss that tough to swallow. In her previous start against Barry, the junior allowed just five hits and no earned runs, but was on the wrong end of a 1-0 score.
Florida Southern and Lynn complete their series on Saturday, but the doubleheader has been moved up due to expected rain later in the afternoon. That doubleheader is now scheduled to begin at 10:00 a.m.
