PALM BEACH GARDENS â€" A fourth-inning bunt single by Miranda Welch turned game one in favor of Palm Beach Atlantic, and bases-loaded singles by Christine Clark and Khaliah Brown turned game two in favor of Florida Southern. The result was a split, as the Sailfish took the opener, 5-2, and the Moccasins took the second half of the doubleheader, 5-3.
The Moccasins (20-15) found themselves trailing 2-0 in the first inning of game one when the Sailfish (20-14) put their first two batters on base and got both of them home. Leadoff hitter Lauren Powell doubled to left center, and when Erica Walters put down a bunt, the Mocs attempted to get Powell at third. The throw was late, however, putting Sailfish at the corners. Two batters later, a single by Caitlin Bouschet drove in the first run of the game and moved Walters to third. Mari Stokes then hit a ground ball to second, and the Mocs nearly turned a 4-6-3 double play, but Stokes beat the throw to first, allowing Walters to score the second run of the inning.
In the top of the second, Florida Southern also put its first two batters on base, but hit into three straight force outs at third. In the top of the third, the first two batters were out, but the Moccasins still scored two runs in the inning to tie the game. They got their base runners on back-to-back walks by Erin Foley and Brittany Martin, and both crossed the plate on a double by Randi Grimes.
The game stayed tied for only an inning when PBA scored its final three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Brittany Jones and Kim Traxler gave PBA a pair of base runners, bringing Welch to the plate with one out. The Sailfish second baseman tried bunting for a hit, but did better than that. Pushing it between Martin who was charging from first, and Clark in the pitcher’s circle, Welch not only reached first base safely, she also got Jones in from second and Traxler over to third when the bunt rolled all the way through the infield.
Clark struck out Cassady Faircloth for the second out of the inning, but hit Lauren Powell with a pitch to load the bases. Walters then singled to center to drive in two more runs for the Sailfish, putting them ahead 5-2.
Clark left the game for Florida Southern after that, and ended up taking the loss after giving up five runs on seven hits, with three strikeouts and no walks. Chris Donovan (12-5) went the distance for Palm Beach Atlantic, giving up two runs on six hits, with five strikeouts and four walks.
Florida Southern’s six hits came from six different players, but Martin was not among them, ending her hitting streak at 19 games, the second longest in team history and one short of the school record. Martin grounded out twice and walked once in her three plate appearances, and may have had a hit taken away in the top of the first inning by Bouschet. With a runner at second and two out, Martin hit one toward the hole on the left side of the infield, but the PBA shortstop slid to her knees to field it. Her throw to first was slightly down the base line, but Mackenzie Johnson caught it and survived a collision with Martin to record the out.
In game two, Powell helped the Sailfish again score two early runs, reaching on leadoff single in the bottom of the first and coming home on a sacrifice fly by Jones, and then driving in Welch with a single in the second inning. In between, the Moccasins got a 2-run single from Dani Blake after the Sailfish committed two errors in the top of the second, leaving the game tied 2-2 going into the third. That’s where Florida Southern scored two more runs to take control of the game.
Loading the bases with one out on singles by Foley and Martin, and a walk by Grimes, the Moccasins got back-to-back RBI singles from Clark and Khaliah Brown to take a 4-2 lead. They added another in the top of the fourth when Steph Graziani singled up the middle to start the inning, was bunted to second by Karlyn Scott, and came home on a base hit by Martin.
The Sailfish got within 5-3 in the bottom of the sixth when Welch again led off with a single and came home on a base hit by Walters. Bouschet followed Walters’ hit with her third walk of the game, and the Mocs held their breath when Stokes hit a long drive to left center, but Blake tracked it down in the gap for the final out of the inning, leaving the bases filled with ‘Fish.
Clark got through the seventh without difficulty, allowing the 5-3 score to hold up. The complete game win moved Clark’s record to 17-8, as she gave up three runs on nine hits, struck out four and survived a career-high four walks. It was the first time in her 57 starts over the last three years that Clark walked more than two batters.
Clark also helped herself with two hits and one RBI, and Martin added two hits and an RBI as well.
Powell and Welch each had three hits in the second game for PBA, and Powell had five in the doubleheader.
Florida Southern and Palm Beach Atlantic will meet again on Tuesday in Lakeland, with the doubleheader starting at 5:00 p.m.
