MIAMI SHORES â€" Between them, Florida Southern and Barry have combined to win all but two of the Sunshine State Conference championships since the sport was added in 1982, but they’ve never seen a game quite like the one they played Saturday â€" and the Moccasins hope they don’t see one like it again. The Buccaneers used a 9-run sixth inning to erase an early 8-run lead by the Moccasins, taking a 10-8 win in the opener before winning game two, 3-1.
Florida Southern (15-13, 6-6) scored two in the first on RBI singles by Brittany Martin and Randi Grimes, two more in the second on a pinch-hit home run by Peggy Alex, and added four in the third to jump out to an 8-0 lead. Christine Clark’s RBI double was the biggest hit during the four-run third, with Heather Raulerson and Dani Blake also driving in runs. Meanwhile, Barry (25-7, 11-1) scored once in the bottom of the fourth to prevent the Moccasins from winning by the run-rule, and then went on to score nine runs on eight hits in the bottom of the sixth.
All eight of those Barry hits were singles, beginning with a couple of close ones that started the inning. Grace Collins beat out a chopper to shortstop to start the inning, and Alyssa Goldsmith hit one down the leftfield line that just eluded a diving Karlyn Scott on the line. Jessica Tabor then singled into right center for one run, and Brooke Asher followed with a 2-run single that made it 8-4.
Moccasin pitcher Christine Clark got a pop-up for the first out of the inning after Asher’s single but hit Jessica Bevlin with a pitch to put another Barry runner on base. Back-to-back singles by Amber Durkin and Natalia Ojeda produced another run and loaded the bases for Sarah Broeseker. The Buccaneer leadoff batter hit a ground ball out to second and Alex came home for the force out, but catcher Heather Raulerson was off the plate and no out was recorded as Bevlin scored to make it 8-6.
With the bases still loaded and only one out, Collins reached on her second infield hit of the inning, driving in the Bucs’ seventh run, and a ground out by Goldsmith plated Ojeda with tying run. Then, with runners at second and third, Tabor singled sharply into center giving the Bucs two more and a 10-8 lead.
The Moccasins went down in order in the top of the seventh, a stunning end for a team that had been in firm control for nearly the entire game, was on the verge of taking the first two games of the series, and possibly going for its first sweep of the Bucs since 1995.
The Mocs had nine hits in the game, along with three walks and a hit batter, and got nearly all of their base runners in during the first three innings; but they left the bases loaded in the sixth after Blake and Alex had started the inning with back-to-back singles.
Blake and Alex each had two hits in the game, as did Martin, who also walked. Alex was in the game for Steph Graziani, who left after being hit by a pitch in the first inning. Graziani remained in the game long enough though to steal second and score Florida Southern’s first run on Martin’s first hit.
Bevlin (5-0) earned the win for Barry by pitching the final 5.1 innings and allowing just one earned run after starter Paula Mackin was knocked out in the second. Clark suffered the loss for Florida Southern, falling to 12-6. She gave up six earned runs, struck out three and walked one.
In game two, the Buccaneers got a two-run homer from Tabor in the bottom of the first inning, but had only three hits in the game off Liana Derringer and Morgan Brown. Two of them came with two out in the bottom of the second when Cassy Zamora singled, stole second before Derringer could get back to the pitcher’s circle, and came home on a single by Ojeda. That was enough, though, for Brianna Smith (12-5), who held the Mocs to five hits in a complete game win after she was tagged for eight runs on nine hits in Florida Southern’s 8-5 win on Friday night. Smith struck out four, walked three and also hit two batters.
The Moccasins scored their only run off Smith on Saturday when Khaliah Brown reached on a leadoff error in the top of the fifth, and came home on a two-out hit by Grimes. They had several other scoring chances throughout the game, but left 10 runners on base, including six in scoring position.
Grimes went 2-for-4 in the game, and Martin was 1-for-2 with a pair of walks.
Derringer fell to 3-4 with the loss, though she gave up just three hits in five innings, with three strikeouts and two walks. Martin was 6-for-8 with four walks in the 3-game series.
Florida Southern will return to the field on Friday night when it opens a 3-game conference series with Lynn at Barnett Field. The Moccasins and Knights will play a single game that night at 7:00, and a doubleheader on Saturday at 1:00.
