ST. PETERSBURG â€" Brittany Martin continued her hot hitting Friday night, and so did just about everyone else. Martin hit a pair of home runs, had one double and four RBI, and Florida Southern used an 8-run second inning to overwhelm Eckerd 13-1 in the first of their three-game Sunshine State Conference series.
By the end of the second inning, eight different Moccasins had already scored at least one run, eight had at least one hit, and eight had had at least one RBI. Many, of course, had done all of the above, including Christine Clark and Heather Raulerson, who each had two hits during an eight-run second inning.
Florida Southern (11-8, 3-4) had already scored in the top of the first when Martin doubled off the fence in centerfield to drive in Steph Graziani, but it could have been worse. Erin Foley and Randi Grimes both had hard-hit balls in the inning that went for outs, allowing the Tritons (9-17, 0-4) to escape down by only a run.
They weren’t as fortunate in the second when Florida Southern sent 13 batters to the plate, picked up eight hits, and thanks to two Eckerd errors early in the inning, all eight runs against Alex Sasso were unearned. Clark started the uprising with a leadoff single, and the Mocs quickly loaded the bases when Khaliah Brown reached on an error, and Raulerson singled down the leftfield line. Dani Blake then hit a ground ball to second, and the Tritons had a chance to get a force out at the plate, but the throw was wide, allowing both Clark and Brown to score.
It only got worse for Eckerd after that. Graziani made it 4-0 with a run-scoring ground out, and a base hit by Karlyn Scott plated Blake with the fifth run of the game, and the fourth of the inning. By the time it was over, the Mocs had also received RBI singles from Grimes, Brown and Raulerson, and Clark drove in one with a double.
Martin would hit a solo home run in the top of the fourth, and a two-run shot in the fifth, with Foley also driving in a run with a sacrifice fly. Martin’s fourth-inning home run was a line drive to right center, a ball that appeared to clear the fence at the same height it was when it left the infield; her fifth-inning homer was a high drive off the scoreboard in left.
In addition to going two-for-three with one RBI, Clark was also the winning pitcher for Florida Southern, going the first three innings in a game shorted to five by the 8-run rule. She gave up two hits, struck out three and walked no one, running her record to 8-4. Morgan Brown pitched the final two innings for Florida Southern.
Eckerd was able to avoid the shutout in the bottom of the fourth when Ashleigh Bynum delivered an RBI single that scored Chelsea Jeffares, who got in just under the tag at home plate. Bynum had two of Eckerd’s six hits in the game.
Florida Southern and Eckerd will complete their three-game series with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00 in St. Petersburg.
