Box Score
ST. PETERSBURG â€" Gianni Artidiello and Heather Brinkmeier were in the perfect spots in the lineup to give Florida Southern a chance to win Friday night, and Leah Pemberton made sure their efforts paid off in dramatic fashion. And when it came to defense, Allasyn Lieneck was perfect to the plate yet again with the game on the line. With all four players coming up big at the end, the Moccasins downed Eckerd 4-2 in their Sunshine State Conference opener.
Artidiello and Brinkmeier were each perfect in the box score at the end of the night. Artidiello put down two sacrifice bunts that set up runs in the third and fifth innings, was hit by a pitch, and singled and scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh. Brinkmeier went 3-for-3 with one RBI, and her sacrifice bunt in the seventh moved Artidiello into scoring position for Pemberton, who drove her in with a 2-out single that gave the Mocs a 3-2 lead. Lieneck, meanwhile, not only went 2-for-4 with one RBI, she also gunned down the potential go-ahead run by Eckerd in the bottom of the sixth.
Friday night’s game went back and forth, with the Tritons (10-11, 0-1) scoring in the first inning, and the Moccasins (7-11, 1-0) tying the game in the third and taking a 2-1 lead in the fifth. The Tritons then tied the game in the bottom of the sixth, which was about the time things really got interesting.
With Florida Southern holding its 2-1 lead, Eckerd got a leadoff single by Chelsea Jeffares to start the bottom of the sixth, and Kara Oberer reached on a sacrifice bunt attempt when the Mocs weren’t able to get the out at second. Kaycie Duncan then singled just inside the line at third, driving in Jeffares with the tying run, and the Tritons still had runners at first and second with none out. A ground out moved them over, and that’s when Lieneck delivered once again with her defense.
When Kristen Schurr lofted a fly ball to medium center, Lieneck moved under it for the catch, with Oberer tagging at third. Lieneck’s throw to the plate was a strike though, allowing catcher Jordan Alexander to tag Oberer on the hand for an inning-ending double play. It was Lieneck’s sixth outfield assist, and the fifth time she’s thrown out a runner at the plate.
Now with the game tied 2-2, Artidiello singled leading off the top of the seventh, and moved to second when Brinkmeier put down a bunt. Pemberton then singled into center, snapping the tie, and took second when the ball was misplayed for an error. That gave Lieneck a chance for an RBI, and the junior outfielder made it 4-2 with an infield hit that skipped away from Oberer at short.
Junior pitcher Chelsea Oglevie survived a rocky start that saw the first four Eckerd batters hit the ball hard, thought two of them went for outs. Pemberton snared a line drive hit by leadoff batter Kirby Parnell, and Lieneck went to her knees in center to make a catch off the bat of Jeffares. Oberer then tripled off the fence in right field and scored on a double by Duncan. Oglevie bounced back with a strikeout to hold the Tritons to one run in the first, and kept them from scoring again until the sixth.
The Moccasins tied the game in the top of the third after Alexander led things off with a single to center and was bunted into scoring position by Artidiello. With Alexander at second, Dayna Hunn nearly hit one out of the park, only to have it caught by Parnell at the fence in center. It did move to Alexander to third, however, and she crossed the plate when Brinkmeier singled through the hole at short.
Hunn got her RBI in the top of the fifth when she doubled in Alexander after a walk. The Moccasin rightfielder also helped out Oglevie in the bottom of the fourth with a diving catch down the line that took a hit away from Brittany Mitchell.
Oglevie ended up going the distance to even her record at 5-5. She gave up five hits, struck out seven and walked two.
Whitney Bernier fell to 6-7 with the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) on 11 hits in 6.2 innings. She did not have strike out and walked just one.
Florida Southern and Eckerd will complete their 3-game series on Saturday with a doubleheader at 1:00 p.m.
