Box Score 1
COLUMBUS, GA â€" Florida Southern’s offense got a jolt from the 2-3-4 combo of Khaliah Brown, Dayna Hunn and Heather Brinkmeier, as the Moccasins erased an early 3-run deficit, but UNC-Pembroke thwarted the comeback with a pair of extra-inning runs that gave the Braves a 5-4, 10-inning victory at the Peach Belt Conference/SSC Challenge.
Brown, Hunn and Brinkmeier all had two of Florida Southern’s nine hits, and all three also walked at least one time. Brown set the table with her two singles and one walk, coming around to score twice, Hunn drove in runs with a first-inning home run and fifth-inning double, and Brinkmeier had two doubles and a pair of walks.
The teams went to extra innings tied 3-3, and after a scoreless eighth, they each scored a run in the ninth. The Braves (2-2) got theirs with the help of an error, with Taylor Cloninger driving it in with a double into the left field corner. The Moccasins (0-3) answered when they loaded the bases on a single by Brown and walks to Brinkmeier and Christie Bailey (Jacksonville, FL). Alexander then got the run across with a fly ball to left, and Leah Pemberton (Valrico, FL) nearly won the game for the Mocs with a blooper into short center. It was caught on the run, however, by Karlee Wilson, who barely held on to the ball as she went to the ground on the edge of the infield dirt.
UNC-Pembroke took the lead for good in the top of the ninth when Holly Berry led off with a double and was bunted to third. Pemberton made a nice play at second for out number two while holding the runner at third before Megan Hillard hit a slow dribbler into the hole at short. Bailey fielded it cleanly, but it was hit too softly to get the out at first as Berry scored the go-ahead run.
Florida Southern found itself in an early hole after giving up three runs in the top of the first inning. The Braves got those runs with the help of three Moccasin errors, two of them coming on back-to-back plays that allowed all three runs to score. The Braves had loaded the bases on 1-out singles by Kaytee Wilson and Shelby Holland, with an additional runner reaching on an error. Brea Hartley then hit a high pop-up for an infield fly, but the ball was dropped, allowing all three runners to advance. Two more runs crossed the plate when Hillard reached on a dropped fly ball in the outfield.
The Moccasins came back for one in the bottom of the first when Hunn (Morriston, FL) hit her first career home run. The Mocs could have scored more, but Pembroke leftfielder Schanique Barrett made a diving catch to take a hit away from Brown (Groveport, OH) just in front of Hunn’s home run, and Brinkmeier (Port St. Joe, FL) doubled right after it.
Over the next 3½ innings, neither team could score, though each had its chances. The Braves started the second inning with back-to-back singles off Chelsea Oglevie (Tampa, FL), but the Mocs’ junior pitcher got out of trouble and retired 10 in a row after that. In the fifth, the Braves got back-to-back singles with one out, but Oglevie induced two force plays at third to end that threat.
Meanwhile, the Moccasins stranded two runners in the third inning, and could do nothing with a double by Pemberton in the fourth. In the bottom of the fifth though, Florida Southern tied the score with consecutive RBI doubles by Hunn and Brinkmeier, which followed a 2-out walk to Brown.
With the game still tied in the bottom of the seventh, the Moccasins missed a chance to win the game before extra innings were needed. They loaded the bases on an infield single by Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, FL) and walks to Hunn and Brinkmeier, but were unable to score.
Both teams had major threats in the eighth, but Lieneck ended the Braves’ chance to score in the top half of the inning by throwing out a runner at the plate. The Mocs then got a walk from Jordan Alexander (Valrico, FL) and a single from Oglevie in the bottom half, but UNC-Pembroke pitcher Natalie Klemann got two bounce outs to the pitcher’s circle to keep the game tied at three.
Oglevie took the loss for Florida Southern, despite giving up only one earned run in 10 innings. The Braves had 12 hits against her, while Oglevie struck out two and walked only one.
Klemann earned the win for UNC-Pembroke, giving up four runs on nine hits and six walks. She had four strikeouts. Starr Gilley pitched the tenth inning for a save, and walked one. The Moccasins had 17 base runners against the two Brave pitchers, but stranded 13.
