LAKELAND â€" Maybe Christine Clark wasn’t as dominating on Sunday as she was on Saturday, but as far as the Moccasins are concerned, it’s a matter of splitting hairs. The end result was still a 2-hit shutout and double digit strikeouts, as Florida Southern took the finale of a 3-game series with Eckerd, 6-0.
One day after beating the Tritons 7-0 with a career-high 16 strikeouts and only two hits allowed, Clark picked up her sixth shutout of the season by again holding them to just two hits. This time, the senior fanned 10 batters and again did not walk a batter in improving to 12-2 on the season. Prior to the series with Eckerd, Clark had never reached double digit strikeouts in her career, and she got to that mark on Sunday by getting the final three batters of the game that way.
Clark set down the first 12 Eckerd hitters in order before Alex Sasso and Kaitlyn Dougherty started the fifth inning with back-to-back singles. The threat was ended though when Clark got back-to-back strikeouts and shortstop Christie Bailey grabbed a hard-hit ball in the hole and fired it over to first for out number three.
By that point in the game, Florida Southern (19-4, 4-2 Sunshine State Conference) had already done all of its scoring and knocked two Eckerd pitchers out of the game. One of those was starter Whitney Bernier (2-3), who had beaten the Moccasins in game two of the series, but gave up three runs on three hits and two hit batters in just over two innings Sunday.
The Mocs got to her in the first inning when Steph Graziani singled, moved to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch and came home on the first of two sacrifice flies by Randi Grimes. The Mocs made it 2-0 in the second inning when Devin Mathews was hit by a pitch, moved to second on a ground out, and scored on a single by Bailey.
When Bernier hit Karlyn Scott to start the third inning, Eckerd (8-20, 1-2) turned to Sasso in the circle, but Grimes and Brittany Martin hit the first two pitches she threw for singles, with Martin’s hit driving in Scott for a 3-0 lead. A single by Mathews later drove in Grimes, and Martin scored on a run-down play to put the Mocs up 5-0 at the end of three.
Grimes hit her second sacrifice fly of the game in the fourth inning to plate Sam Gale, who had reached on a leadoff single, but Eckerd’s third pitcher, Nazley Wilson, kept the Mocs from scoring again. Wilson had entered to face Grimes with the bases loaded and got out of it allowing just one run. She gave up only one hit in 3.0 innings, a bunt single by Graziani in the sixth.
Graziani and Martin each had two of Florida Southern’s 10 hits, and Martin was 6-for-10 in the 3-game series.
Florida Southern will be at home again on Tuesday with a 5:30 p.m. doubleheader against Concordia (NE).
