BOCA RATON â€" Every player in the lineup found a way to be involved in one very big inning Friday, and some of them even found a way to do so twice. Brittany Martin was one of those, as the senior third baseman led off a 9-run fourth inning with her sixth home run of the season and later drew a bases-loaded walk in the same inning to help Florida Southern down Lynn 9-0 in the opener of a 3-game series.
The Moccasins (24-7, 5-5 Sunshine State Conference) had one hit in each of the first three innings before picking up six hits, five walks and one hit batter in the fourth, and turning them into nine runs. Martin’s blast over the left centerfield fence was the first of them, and by the time it was over, seven other Moccasins had also driven in a run to help Florida Southern win by the 8-run rule.
After the home run by Martin, Devin Mathews was hit by a pitch and Christine Clark drew the first of her two walks in the inning. Marty Wilcox bunted both of them into scoring position and nearly beat out an infield single, but the Knights (1-29, 0-7) managed to get the out. Back-to-back RBI singles by Christie Bailey and Sam Gale followed, and Steph Graziani walked to load the bases. Karlyn Scott and Randi Grimes then delivered two more run-scoring singles, giving the Mocs a 5-0 lead, while still leaving three runners on base for Martin, who was coming to bat for the second time in the inning.
Facing a new Lynn pitcher, Martin walked to force in Graziani, and Mathews singled in Scott to make the score 7-0. After consecutive bases-loaded walks to Clark and Wilcox, the Mocs lead was up to 9-0, still with only one out. When the Knights finally did get the second out of the inning, ending a streak of nine straight Moccasins to reach base, it only came when rightfielder Christina Carvetta went to the ground in right center to take away what might have been a two-run double by Bailey.
Lynn had just two hits off the combined pitching of Clark and Gale, with Carvetta leading off the bottom of the fourth with a single, and Kasey Murray picking up a double in the fifth. Clark got a double play from Graziani and Bailey to erase Carvetta, and Gale kept the Knights off the board when Martin and Graziani trapped Murray between the bases on a ground ball hit by Callie Darlin.
Clark struck out five and walked none in her 4.0 innings of work, improving to 17-4, while Missy Montgomery fell to 1-10 with the loss.
Florida Southern and Lynn will play a doubleheader to wrap up their series on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.
