DAVIE â€" When Christine Clark and Nova Southeastern’s Sara DeMuth started the first of a 3-game series Friday night, little did they know they’d still be pitching against each other Sunday morning â€" in the very same game. After 1½ scoreless innings Friday before rain suspended play, and a day of rain on Saturday, the top two winners in the SSC put even more zeroes up Sunday before Florida Southern finally earned a 1-0, 10-inning victory. More rain followed, but Nova eventually won game two, 9-1.
With the first game of the series split between two days, the Moccasins (34-15, 11-9) got a 3-hit, 10-inning shutout from Clark, and an RBI single from Randi Grimes to defeat the Sharks in game one. In the second game, the Sharks (32-20, 12-8) scored seven runs in the first two innings for a win by the 8-run rule in five innings.
Through the first seven innings of the opener, Florida Southern got only two runners into scoring position against DeMuth, and Nova got only one against Clark. They combined for just seven hits during that time, four by the Moccasins and three by the Sharks. The Mocs also had one walk.
Florida Southern moved runners to second base in both the third and fourth innings, but each of them came with two out. Nova’s only threat against Clark in the entire game came in the bottom of the sixth when Jaimee Vega led off with an infield single and was bunted to second. The Sharks had two chances to get her home, and even had Vega steal third, but Clark kept them off the board with a liner to second and a ground ball to second. They never put another runner on after that, with Clark retiring the last 15 Nova batters in a row, and 21 of the last 22.
In extra innings, Florida Southern put its leadoff runner on base three times with singles by Sam Gale, Brittany Martin and Christie Bailey, and it was Bailey’s hit in the top of the tenth that led to the only run of the game. The Moccasin shortstop dropped a single into short right to start the inning, and two batters later, Karlyn Scott singled sharply into left. When Steph Graziani hit a soft line drive up the middle, Bailey got tangled up with Vega at shortstop and was called out for runner’s interference.
The interference call ended the play, putting Scott at second and Graziani at first with two out. Grimes, who had earlier lost two hits on spectacular defensive plays by the Sharks, came through for the Mocs with a single into second, bringing Scott in with the winning run.
It was one of two hits Grimes did have, and the Mocs got three from Gale. They had nine hits off DeMuth overall, who fell to 24-16 with the loss while striking out seven and walking one.
Two of the three hits Clark allowed were infield singles. She struck out eight and walked no one, improving to 24-8. It was Clark’s 10th shutout of the year and 20th of her career. It also marked her second extra-inning win over the Sharks after beating them 3-2 in 12 innings last year.
At the end of game one, the skies opened once more, and when the rain stopped, an unplayable field caused a nearly 3½-hour delay. When the second game got underway just before 5:00, the Moccasins started it by loading the bases in the top of the first inning on singles by Scott and Graziani and a walk by Martin. They left them loaded, however, and the Sharks ended up scoring three times in the bottom of the inning on a two-run triple by Laura Saladrigas and a wild pitch.
Saladrigas added a two-run double in the second inning, and Gina Bondarenko and Melaie Spicola followed with RBI singles that made the score 7-0. The Sharks would then score single runs in the third and fourth before the Mocs got on the board with an RBI single by Grimes in the top of the fifth.
DeMuth, now 25-16, picked up the win in game two, allowing just one run on four hits with three strikeouts and three walks.
Lauren Wolfe suffered the loss, falling to 7-5, while giving up six runs (three earned) on four hits with one strikeout and one walk in 1.2 innings.
Due to conference rules, the final game of the series will not be played, only the third time since the SSC went to a 3-game format in 2004 that a series has been left unfinished. It’s the first time it’s happened to Florida Southern.
The Moccasins will close out the regular season this week when they host Rollins College on Thursday and Friday. Thursday night’s single begins at 7:00, and Friday’s doubleheader begins at 1:00.
