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LAKELAND â€" The way Florida Southern hit the ball Tuesday night in its doubleheader against Webber International, it would be nearly impossible to pick a star of the game, and that’s just fine with head coach Chris Bellotto. But it would also be tough to imagine the Moccasins winning those games without Cassie Haynes and Dayna Hunn. Haynes had two hits in each of them, and Hunn’s RBI single in the bottom of the sixth drove in the game-winner in the second one, as the Mocs downed the Warriors, 6-1 and 8-5.
Florida Southern (17-26) had 20 hits in the doubleheader, and eight different Moccasins had at least two. Haynes was the leader with four, plus a walk, while Hunn and Jordan Alexander had three apiece. With Haynes and Khaliah Brown doing some major damage from the bottom of the lineup in game one, the Mocs led 6-1 after three innings before relying on Chelsea Oglevie (11-14) to keep the Warriors off the board the rest of the way. In game two, they had to fight back from a 5-1 deficit after 4½ innings, with a 2-run single by Hunn part of a four-run fifth, and another single by Hunn driving in the go-ahead run in the sixth.
Both teams had base runners in every inning in game one, and hits in all but the top of the fifth; but while the Warriors scored only one run on their 10 hits, and stranded 12 base runners, the Moccasins scored six times off 11 hits, five walks and a hit batter. They too left 12 runners on base, but with both Brown and Haynes coming up with key hits in the second and third innings, the Mocs were able to take control.
The bottom of the second started with Alexander getting hit by a pitch and Heather Brinkmeier following with a single. After a sacrifice bunt by Kelliann Connors moved them over, Brown and Haynes got them in with back-to-back singles to give FSC a 2-0 lead.
In the bottom of the third, Leah Pemberton and Alexander each walked to get that inning started, and a double by Brinkmeier drove in Pemberton. Alexander would score on a passed ball to make it 4-1, and two batters later, Brown singled in another run. Brown then stole second and scored when a base hit by Haynes was misplayed in the outfield.
The Moccasins got three base runners in the fourth, including a double by Hunn, but left all of them on base, and they also stranded two in both the fifth and sixth innings, which included Alexander’s second hit of the game and the second for Gianni Artidiello.
It was a strange night for Oglevie, statistically speaking, as the junior pitcher gave up 10 hits, but only one run, and an unearned run at that. She also struck out three and walked two. The Warriors scored on her in the top of the third when Kelei Levy singled in Francesca Mangliocchetti, who had led off the inning with a single. That hit by Levy came with two out after an error had kept the inning alive.
Webber went 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position, left two runners on base in each of the first four innings, and also wasted doubles by Jessica Lanci and Maureen Sandidge in the final two innings.
In game two, Webber (19-19) jumped out to a 5-1 lead, highlighted by an RBI double by Sandidge in the top of the first, and a 3-run homer by Lanci in the top of the second. It was one of four hits for Lanci in the game, and helped the junior shortstop go 6-for-8 in the doubleheader.
Once again, it was Haynes who helped Florida Southern pull out the win. The sophomore outfielder from Allen Park, Michigan walked and scored on a base hit by Christie Bailey in the third inning for the Mocs’ first run, and later had singles in both the fifth and sixth innings when they scored a total of seven runs. She’s hitting .423 (11-for-26) with a .483 on-base percentage over the last nine games
Trailing 5-1 in the bottom of the fifth, a walk to Brown and an infield single by Haynes put the Mocs’ first two hitters on base. Brown was forced at third on a ground ball by Artidiello, but a single by Bailey loaded the bases for Hunn. The Moccasin rightfielder hit a low line drive into short center that barely eluded a lunging Mangliocchetti, and both Haynes and Artidiello scored to make it a 5-3 game. Bailey later scored on a single by Alexander, and Hunn tied the game when Brinkmeier reached on a 2-out error.
In the bottom of the sixth, another infield single by Haynes put the winning run on base, though she was forced at second on Artidiello’s ground ball to short. Now with two out, Artidiello swiped second ahead of a walk to Bailey, and scored the go-ahead run when Hunn singled into left. Pemberton made it 8-5 with a 2-run single.
That made a winner out of Lauren Wolfe (6-9), who had come on in relief of Connors to start the fourth inning. The sophomore held Webber to one run on five hits over the final four innings, striking out three and walking one.
In addition to Lanci’s four hits, the Warriors got two more from Levy, who was 4-for-7 on the night. With that pair picking up 10 hits between them, Webber had 21 in the doubleheader, but stranded a total of 20 base runners.
Florida Southern will play its next game on Friday night when it begins a 3-game Sunshine State Conference series at Rollins with a 7:00 single game.
