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LAKE WALES â€" When Chelsea Oglevie had a little bit of early difficulty Wednesday afternoon, Kelliann Connors and Heather Brinkmeier simply bought her a little bit more time with which to work. Then when Oglevie got back on track, the Moccasins had already done enough damage to get a 5-2 win in game one of their doubleheader at Warner. In the second game, it was Leah Pemberton who gave the Mocs an early lead, and Connors who slammed the door in the seventh inning as a pitcher, as they completed a sweep with a 2-1 victory.
The Royals scored runs in the first and third innings against Oglevie (Tampa, FL) when they had three hits and two walks among their first 12 batters. Over the final 4.2 innings though, the junior pitcher allowed just two base runners, one on an error in the fifth, and the other on a walk in the seventh. The walk was erased on a double play turned by junior third baseman Gianni Artidiello (Miami, FL) and freshman second baseman Pemberton (Valrico, FL), allowing Oglevie to essentially retire 14 of the last 15 batters she faced with only one of them getting the ball out of the infield.
As well as Oglevie pitched, it was Connors’ big day. The freshman from Waterford, Connecticut went 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles in game one, and was part of two innings in which the Mocs scored. She then worked out of a bases-loaded jam in game two as a relief pitcher to save that one and give Florida Southern an 11-14 record on the season.
Warner (8-7) took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning when Tabatha Martin reached on a leadoff walk, stole second and scored on a 2-out single by Heather Knoop.
In the top of the second, Brinkmeier (Port St. Joe, FL) and Connors sparked the Florida Southern offense and helped put the Mocs ahead, 2-1. Brinkmeier, junior Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, FL) and junior Christie Bailey (Jacksonville, FL) all had hits in the inning, and though Florida Southern had one runner thrown out at the plate on Bailey’s single, one scored on a double by Connors. Another scored when the double was misplayed in the outfield for an error.
One inning later, Brinkmeier did it all herself with a solo home run to right, the first of the season for the junior first baseman. It proved to be the eventual winning run after Warner used an infield single by Martin and double by Tiffany Upchurch to score in the bottom of the third.
After the Mocs left the bases loaded in the top of the fourth, they added another run in the fifth when Pemberton walked, stole second and touched the plate on a double by Lieneck. Connors then started the sixth inning with her second double of the game, and would later score on a single by Artidiello.
With Connors going 3-for-3, and Brinkmeier and Lieneck each picking up two hits, the Moccasins had 10 hits as a team off Warner pitcher Heather Knoop (3-5), who also walked four and struck out two.
Oglevie (7-7) gave up only three hits, walked three, and struck out two.
Sophomore Lauren Wolfe (Lithia, FL) took the ball for Florida Southern in game two, and just as Oglevie did in the opener, she gave up a first-inning run before settling down and giving the Moccasins another win. Wolfe went six innings and gave up only four hits, struck out three and walked one.
Florida Southern did all of its scoring in the first inning too. Freshman Jordan Alexander (Valrico, FL) reached on an infield single to start the game and was bunted into scoring position by Artidiello. Sophomore Dayna Hunn (Morriston, FL) was then hit in the back of the helmet and a 2-out wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. Pemberton came through for the Mocs with a single up the middle that scored both Alexander and Hunn for a 2-0 lead.
A hit batter also helped the Royals score in the bottom of the first, and it happened to the leadoff batter, Tabatha Martin. After Laura Lovell’s sacrifice put Martin at second, she scored on a double by Upchurch.
From there both teams were held in check, the Royals by Wolfe, and the Moccasins by Miranda Wrinkle. The Mocs’ only serious threat after the first inning came in the second when Wrinkle walked Alexander and Artidiello with two out, but got Hunn on strikes to end the inning.
The Royals wasted a leadoff walk in the second, a leadoff single and stolen base by Martin in the third, and a leadoff error in the sixth. The last one was especially damaging when pinch-runner Jelisa Potter was called out for leaving first base too soon, and Tiffany Porter followed with a single and stolen base.
Head coach Chris Bellotto replaced Wolfe with Connors to start the seventh inning, and through no fault of her own, the freshman found herself in a tough situation. She got the first batters without incident, including a ground ball to Artidiello who came in for the short-hop, and made an off-balance throw to Brinkmeier for a tag play at first. With the game nearly finished, however, the Royals got two infield singles on balls hit too slowly to get an out, and another runner reached on an error. Connors went 2-0 on Knoop in the cleanup slot but got the final out when she flied out to Hunn in right center.
It was the second save of the year for Connors, and it allowed Wolfe to even her record at 4-4.
Wrinkle fell to 1-1 with the loss, though she gave up only four hits, struck out four and walked four. She allowed only three base runners over the final five innings.
Florida Southern will return to Sunshine State Conference play this weekend when it hosts Lynn University in a 3-game series that starts with a single game Friday night at 7:00.
