LAKELAND â€" One big inning and one big hit by Erica Walters lifted Palm Beach Atlantic to a 6-1 win in game one, while two big hits in two different innings by Cassady Faircloth, and one unfortunate bounce against the Moccasins, sparked PBA to a 5-4 win in game two, as the Sailfish swept a doubleheader from Florida Southern.
For the first time in 19 years, Florida Southern (20-17) was playing the same team four times in the span of four days after splitting a doubleheader with Palm Beach Atlantic (22-14) on Saturday in West Palm Beach. Chris Donovan (14-5) got the win for PBA in that one, and earned two more on Tuesday, though the Moccasins got to her for four runs on eight hits in game two before Lauren Bubeck pitched the final three innings for the save.
Even so, the pitching star of the night might have been Florida Southern’s Morgan Brown, who entered both games in tight situations in the top of the fourth inning, prevented PBA from adding to its total, and then shut out the Sailfish the rest of the way. The senior pitched a total of 6.2 innings in the doubleheader, giving up just four hits, striking out four and walking one.
In each game, the Moccasins scored a run in the bottom of the first inning to take a 1-0 lead before the Sailfish came back. In the opener, the Mocs got three straight singles from Karlyn Scott, Erin Foley and Brittany Martin before Randi Grimes walked with the bases loaded to force in a run. All of that came with one out, but Donovan got out of trouble when second baseman Mari Stokes turned a double play behind her for the final two outs. After that, Donovan allowed just one hit and two walks the rest of the game.
Stokes would help her pitcher on offense too, picking up singles in both the third and fourth innings, and coming around to score each time. In the third, she scored on a Walters double that tied the game at one.
The big inning came in the fourth when PBA scored five times on five hits, with Brittany Jones driving in the go-ahead run with a two-out single. Stokes followed her with another single before Caitlin Bouschet drew a bases-loaded walk that gave the Sailfish a 3-1 lead. Walters then cleared the bases with her second double of the night before Brown came in for Florida Southern and restored order, but the damage was done.
In game two, nearly all of the scoring came in the first three innings, with the Mocs again taking a 1-0 lead when Scott doubled in the bottom of the first and scored all the way from second when Brittany Martin beat out a chopper to third for an infield single. The throw was slightly off target, though Martin appeared to be at the bag anyway, and Scott never stopped running as Mackenzie Johnson spun and made the catch.
The Sailfish took a 3-1 lead half an inning later when Faircloth delivered a triple down the right field line that scored two and then scored on a Moccasin error.
The Mocs would tie the game in the bottom of the inning when Christine Clark got them started with a triple, which like Faircloth’s, barely got by a diving outfielder on the line. Dani Blake brought her home with a 2-out single up the middle, and would later score the tying run when Foley walked with the bases loaded.
Once more, the Sailfish came back, this time with two runs in the top of the third to take a 5-3 lead. Bouschet led off with a single and scored the go-ahead run on a double by Johnson, and Faircloth later singled in Johnson.
The Moccasins answered in the bottom of the fourth, but the inning had a disappointing end, considering what might have been. Scott was hit by a pitch and Foley reached on an infield single to give the Mocs a pair of base runners with two out. Martin then drove a pitch to deep left center that would have scored both runners, but after bouncing in the field of play, it went off the top of the fence for a ground rule double, forcing Foley to return to third. The Mocs ended up leaving the bases loaded without getting her in, leaving the score 5-4. It remained that way the rest of the night.
Both teams reached double digits in hits in game two, with PBA picking up 12 and Florida Southern picking up 10. Faircloth, who went 2-for-4 in game one, was 3-for-4 with three RBI in the nightcap. The Moccasins got two hits apiece from Steph Graziani, Foley, Martin and Blake.
Florida Southern returns to conference play this weekend with a 3-game series at the University of Tampa. Friday night’s game starts at 7:00, and Saturday’s doubleheader starts at 1:00 p.m.
