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CARROLLTON â€" Karlyn Scott provided the big hit in her first start of the season, and Liana Derringer and Christine Clark provided hitless relief pitching as Florida Southern came back for a 6-5 win over Georgia Southwestern on day one of the Wolves Invitational. The Moccasins dropped their first game of the day to Augusta State by the same 6-5 score.
Day two of the tournament was scheduled to start for Florida Southern at noon on Saturday, but all games have been moved up two hours due to expected rain. That means the Moccasins will now play at 10:00 and 12:00 instead.
Florida Southern (4-7) fell behind in the first inning of both games on Friday, first by a 3-0 score against the Jaguars, and later by a 2-0 score against the Hurricanes. The Moccasins rallied in both of them, eventually tying the Augusta State game at five before a late home run by Kaitlin Harris decided the game in the Jags’ favor. In their second game, though, it was the Moccasins who scored the sixth run, giving them a split in their first day of the tournament hosted by the University of West Georgia.
Georgia Southwestern took its 2-0 lead on a 2-run homer by Nichole Griffin, but Florida Southern came right back with two of its own in the bottom of the first. Steph Graziani doubled to start the inning, and after Scott bunted her to third, came home on a base hit by Erin Foley. A wild pitch moved her into scoring position for Brittany Martin, who plated Foley with another single.
The Hurricanes (10-16) came right back with two more in the top of the second, with only one ball hit out of the infield. After Heather Hodge led off with an infield single, Moccasin pitcher Morgan Brown got two outs and was close to getting out of the inning without allowing a run; but an error allowed one run to score, and after a walk put runners at first and second, Griffin drove in her third run of the game with a base hit to left center.
It was a similar story in the third inning, when the Hurricanes again hit just one ball out of the infield but still managed to score a run. This time they used a leadoff walk, sacrifice bunt, and a single to move a runner to third, and a ground ball hit to second by Anna Dankewich brought the run in for a 5-2 lead.
The Mocs also scored in the inning when Graziani singled and stole second before coming in on a two-out infield hit by Foley. That made the score 5-3 when head coach Chris Bellotto went to the bullpen for Derringer, who pitched 2.1 innings of relief to earn her first collegiate win.
She got that win after the Mocs scored three times in the bottom of the fourth inning, an inning that started with back-to-back doubles by Randi Grimes and Heather Raulerson, and prompted a Georgia Southwestern pitching change. Reliever Katie Mueller walked the first batter she faced, Christie Bailey, and only a diving catch by third baseman Gabby Buck on Dani Blake’s bunt kept the situation from escalating. After Mueller got Graziani to ground out to second, advancing both runners, Scott delivered a single through the right side of the infield, scoring Grimes with the tying run and Raulerson with the go-ahead run.
The Moccasins threatened again in both the fifth and sixth, but left two runners on in each inning. Bailey nearly came through for them in the fifth with bullet hit toward left, but it was grabbed by shortstop Lyndi Duff for the final out.
The Hurricanes put together a threat in the top of the sixth when Derringer walked consecutive batters with one out, bringing Clark into the game for Florida Southern. Despite throwing a wild pitch that put runners at second and third, Clark got a pop-up for out number one, and struck out Griffin, who was hitting .411, to end the inning. The junior lefty then struck out two of the Hurricanes’ three batters in the top of the seventh for the save.
Earlier in the day, Florida Southern erased a 3-run deficit against Augusta State (14-5), but that game didn’t have the same type of ending. Clark started that one, and walked two batters in the top of the first inning that eventually scored, with Kristen Jones driving in one run with a base hit to right center, and Kaitlin Harris driving in two with a bloop single into left center.
The Moccasins scored the next five runs of the game, however, including one in the bottom of the first on an Augusta State error. The other four came in the bottom of the third after the Mocs loaded the bases with one out on walks to Khaliah Brown and Foley, and a single by Clark. Brittany Martin doubled into the right centerfield gap to bring in Brown and Foley, and Peggy Alex walked to load the bases again for Raulerson. The Moccasin catcher delivered with a sacrifice fly to deep left, advancing all three runners, and Martin would score on a wild pitch to give the Mocs a 5-3 lead.
It didn’t take long for the Jaguars to tie the game though, and they did it in unconventional fashion half an inning later. Harris, who went 3-for-3 in the game, singled with one out for Augusta State, and Alyssa Pingree followed with a blooper down the right field line. Brown made a diving attempt at the ball but came up just short, and the Jags had runners at the corners. After pinch-runner Jessica Shivers stole second, Katelyn Rush drove in Harris with a ground out to make it 5-4. Then, with Kacey Sims at the plate with two out, Shivers scored on a delayed steal of home, tying the game at five.
Florida Southern had a chance to re-claim the lead in the top of the fifth when Martin hit her second double of the game, and Alex followed with a single. But despite having runners at first and third with none out, the Mocs weren’t able to get either of them in. They ended up leaving the bases loaded after Bailey later walked, and the Mocs went down in order in both the sixth and seventh innings.
Harris ended up deciding the game for Augusta State with a solo home run in the top of the sixth, her third hit and third RBI of the game. She had just two RBI in Augusta State’s first 18 games. That made a winner of relief pitcher Emily Headrick, who pitched the final 4.2 innings without allowing a run. Headrick allowed just two hits, struck out four and walked three.
Florida Southern will play Palm Beach Atlantic and North Alabama on day two of the Wolves Invitational, hosted by West Georgia, with those games moved up two hours due to expected rain. The Moccasins and Sailfish will now get underway at 10:00 a.m., before the Moccasins and Lions play at noon.
