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CLEARWATER â€" Saturday’s game between Florida Southern and Lindenwood (MO) may have been one the pitchers on both teams would like to erase from the record books, but Brittany Martin made sure her own name was in there one more time. Martin went 4-for-5, tied a school record with three doubles, and drove in three runs to lead the Moccasins to an 11-7 win in their third game of the Eckerd College Tournament.
Martin became the fifth player in team history to hit three doubles in a game, and the first since Sara Lovestrand did it against North Alabama in 2009. Florida Southern nearly set the team record for doubles too, as Randi Grimes and Christine Clark each had two, giving the Mocs seven in the game. That was one short of the mark they established in a 42-0 win over Rollins in 1993.
Against Lindenwood, Florida Southern banged out 14 hits, received six walks and had two batters hit by a pitch. For their part, the Lions (0-3) had nine hits and walked eight times. Each team had one big inning, with the Moccasins scoring seven runs in the bottom of the third to erase a 1-0 deficit, and the Lions scoring five in the top of the fourth to make it a 7-6 game. Martin, whose 2-run double in the third had given the Mocs the lead, then helped FSC score two in the fourth and two in the sixth with two more 2-base hits.
Karlyn Scott was a big part of the offense too, and had a pair of hits in the 7-run third. It was Steph Graziani and Scott who started that inning with bunt singles on consecutive pitches before Grimes tied the game with a double that bounced through the infield and into the left centerfield gap. Martin followed with a 2-run double into the leftfield corner, and Clark gave the Mocs another run with their third straight double.
That knocked Lindenwood starting pitcher Adi Powell out of the game, but the Mocs kept scoring. After a walk to Devin Mathews, Dayna Hunn delivered an RBI single to make it 5-1, and Scott later singled in two more runs to put the Mocs ahead 7-1.
Lindenwood got right back in the game though by putting its first five runners on base in the top of the fourth against Florida Southern starter Lauren Wolfe. Two of those were walks sandwiched around a single by Anne Park, and loaded the bases for Kate Keaton. The Lion catcher knocked in two of them with a double to deep left center, and Dani Farnam followed with another 2-run double that cut the lead to 7-5. A pinch-hit single by Allie Newcomb made it 7-6 before relief pitcher Liana Derringer, who entered after Farnam’s double, got two pop-ups to end the inning.
Martin led off the bottom of the fourth with her second double of the game, and perhaps one of the stranger extra base hits the Moccasins have had. With the ball popped up just behind the pitcher’s circle, shortstop Alyssa Esperum tried to make a diving catch but came up a little bit short and had the ball bounce away from her. With second base momentarily uncovered, Martin never stopped running and slid into the bag before the Lions could recover and put the tag on her.
That infield double turned into another run when Clark blasted her second double of the game right after that, and Clark would later score on a bases-loaded walk by Graziani.
The Lions came back with a run in the top of the fifth to again slice into the Moccasin lead, but Florida Southern put the game away with two in the bottom of the sixth. That inning featured hits by Scott, Grimes and Martin, with Martin driving in the final run with her record-tying double.
Derringer got the win for Florida Southern with 1.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits, striking out two and walking two. She got the Mocs out of a tough spot in the fourth inning before Clark helped her out in the fifth and finished the game with 2.1 scoreless innings for a save. Clark surrendered two hits and two walks, and struck out two in her first relief outing of the season. She left the bases loaded in the top of the sixth by striking out Esperum.
Of the eight walks issued by Florida Southern’s three pitchers, four of them went to Marcy Bross and three went to Esperum.
Powell took the loss for Lindenwood after getting knocked out in the third inning before she could get an out. The Mocs scored five runs on six hits against her.
Overall, the Mocs had 14 hits against three Lindenwood pitchers, which included four by Martin, three apiece by Scott and Grimes, and two by Clark. Hunn also had one hit and three walks.
Florida Southern will play its fourth game of the tournament at approximately 4:00 against Flagler.
