Mocs Earn Series Sweep Against 22nd-Ranked Barry

LAKELAND â€"  Florida Southern earned their second consecutive series sweep over a conference opponent this season after beating Barry in both games of today’s doubleheader; after winning the first game of the series 6-5 in 12 innings yesterday, the Moccasins would defeat the Buccaneers 6-3 (Box Score) in game-one and win game-two 2-0 (Box Score) here at Henley Field.

The Mocs improved to 11-11 overall, reaching .500 for the first time this season, and are the only team in the Sunshine State Conference to keep a undefeated conference record intact as the Mocs currently stand 6-0

Second-game starting pitcher Brian Johnson pitched his second consecutive complete game shutout today in the third game of the series. Last week against Eckerd, Johnson carried a perfect game for 5 2/3 innings before giving up his only hit of the game; he faced 22 batters, one over the minimum, and fanned six Triton batters.  In today’s game, Johnson was equally as effective pitching all seven innings fanning six and allowing only four hits.

On offense the Mocs only collected two runs but that was all they needed. Conor Szczerba led off the first inning with a single and would then advance to second on an infield hit by Keith Curcio. Szczerba and Curcio would pull off a double steal before Dominic Brugnoni hit a sacrifice fly to center field scoring Szczerba. Another FSC run would be added in the fifth as Kyle Gibbs reached on a single. He would eventually score from third on a RBI single through the right side by Kyle Jackson.

Gibbs, Curcio and Jackson all went 2-of-3 from the plate and as a team the Mocs recorded nine total hits, leaving eight runners on base during the second gameof today’s doubleheader.

Picking up the loss would be Bucs’ pitcher, Kevin Youst, who pitched the entire game for Barry. He gave nine hits and two earned runs through six innings of work. Youst would also only strike out two Moccasin batters.

The first game of today’s double-header was much like the first game of the series, as the Mocs fought off a slow start on the offensive side before putting four runs up on the board in the sixth inning. After catcher Brad Carlton would strike out to lead-off the inning, J.J. Downum would single through the right side to get the offense rolling. Behind Downum, was Conor Szczerba who would reach on a bunt advancing Downum to second; both runners would then advance up a base on a passed ball by the Bucs’ catcher. Following Gibbs reaching base on a walk, Curcio single to centerfield scoring the Mocs’ first two runs. 

Still down 3-2 with only one out, the Mocs would plate two more runs in the bottom of the sixth. With Gibbs on third, Curcio would steal second to get two runners in scoring position. Brugnoni would then score Gibbs and move Curcio over to third on a single to the shortstop. Jackson ended the Mocs scoring by hitting a sacrifice fly to centerfield, scoring Curcio.

The Mocs would then add two more insurance runs over the next two innings. Carlton would blast a pitch over the left center wall for a solo homer in the bottom of the seventh while Curcio scored his second run of the game on a RBI double from Brugnoni.

Starting pitcher, for the Mocs, Alex Norris gave up three Barry runs over five innings over work, including a solo home run by the Bucs’ designated hitter Tim Blackmon before Nick Krolczyk would relieve Norris at the start of the sixth inning. Krolczyk would pitch the remainder of the game giving up two hits over four innings of work and allowing no runs in his second win of the season.

Losing pitcher for Barry was starter Billy Atkins, who went six innings; giving up six hits, four earned runs and fanning six Moccasin batters.

Leading the Mocs offensively in the first game of the day was Downum who went 2-of-3 and Brugnoni who went 2-of-4 with two RBI during the win.

The Mocs will continue their home-stand this upcoming Tuesday, March 19, against Florida Tech in a non-conference game scheduled to start at 6 p.m.