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ST. AUGUSTINE â€" The best start in Flagler’s brief softball history continued Saturday afternoon, with Florida Southern becoming the Saints’ latest victim. With Kelly Riddick pitching a shutout in game one, and Stacy Piagno and Katelyn Guinsler each driving in two runs in the nightcap, Flagler swept its doubleheader with Florida Southern by scores of 8-0 and 6-4.
Game one was shortened to five innings by the 8-run rule, and the Moccasins (2-2) were forced to play from behind almost right from the start. Lauren Ely singled with one out in the bottom of the first for Flagler, stole second and scored when the next batter, Alona Personius, doubled to center. The Saints (14-0) then added two more runs in the second inning on a two-out, two-run triple by Lauren Bessent, a ball that landed on the paint of the right field line, and plated a pair of runners who’d reached on an error and an infield single.
Flagler blew the game open with a five-run fourth, scoring all of those runs without a single hit in the inning. The five base runners reached on four walks and a hit batter, with the first two runs scoring on consecutive wild pitches. Two others scored on errors to help Flagler, which is only its third year of fast-pitch softball, win by the 8-run rule for the fifth time in its first 13 games.
Despite the score, Florida Southern had base runners in every inning against Kelly Riddick, who improved to 7-0 with the win. The Mocs left five of them on base though, and two others were erased on double plays. Christine Clark, Khaliah Brown, Steph Graziani and Heather Raulerson had Florida Southern’s four hits in the game.
The Moccasins’ frustration continued into the second game too, as they put seven more runners on base in the first four innings and stranded all of them. The top of the third was especially vexing after Peggy Alex reached on an error, and Erin Foley and Brittany Martin followed with back-to-back singles. Nothing came of it though, as Flagler pitcher Kalyn Loverich got two strikeouts and an infield pop-up to end the threat.
Flagler, meanwhile, scored six runs in the first four innings, and again put the Mocs under early pressure with two runs in the bottom of the first. Bessent led off the game with a double and Ely walked before Florida Southern pitcher Morgan Brown nearly got out of trouble; but both runners were able to score on a 2-out infield single by Piagno, a slowly hit ball towards the middle that Alex fielded but was unable to get the out at first. Bessent easily scored from third on the play, and Ely never stopped running from second, just beating the throw to the plate from first baseman Brittany Martin.
Florida Southern got one of those runs back in the top of the second when Clark singled and eventually scored on an error, but Flagler used three errors by the Moccasins over the next two innings to score three more runs and take a 5-1 lead. An RBI single by Breezy Collings in the bottom of the fourth made it 6-1 before the Moccasins mounted a comeback, a task aided by 2.1 scoreless innings of relief by freshman Liana Derringer.
Like the Saints before them, the Moccasins took advantage of some defensive miscues to score two runs in the top of the fifth inning. Foley singled to get things started, and the Mocs added another runner when the ball was dropped on a force play at second. Loverich got two outs, but the Mocs ended up getting two runs when a fly ball to short left by Christie Bailey was dropped for an error.
Trailing 6-3, the Moccasins used three singles in the top of the sixth to score again, this time with Martin driving in Alex. That would be the Mocs’ final run though, as Loverich set them down in order in the top of the seventh, the only time either team went 1-2-3 in the entire doubleheader.
Like Riddick in game one, Loverich improved to 7-0 with the complete game victory.
The Mocs ended up out-hitting the Saints, 8-7, but left 10 runners on base. Foley, Martin and Dani Blake all had two hits apiece.
Florida Southern will play its first Sunshine State Conference series of the year when it takes the field again on Tuesday night in Winter Park. The Moccasins open a 3-game set with Rollins that night with a single game beginning at 7:00 p.m.
