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WINTER PARK â€" The pitching of Stephanie Sullivan and a 6-run third inning were enough to give 22nd-ranked Rollins a 6-0 win over Florida Southern in game one Saturday, before Niki Fogle provided the pitching and a lot of the hitting too in an 8-1 win over the Moccasins in game two.
In the opening game of the doubleheader, Rollins (42-8, 17-7) scored its six third-inning runs on just two hits, with one very costly error thrown into the mix. The Tars had the bases loaded with two out on a walk, a single and a fielder’s choice, and they scored their first run when Lauren Wolfe hit Kristie Hoeffer to force in Hilary Brown. Wolfe nearly got out of the inning with only the one run allowed when Veronica Alred hit a fly ball into shallow centerfield, but a collision between two Moccasins allowed the ball to drop uncaught, and all three base runners came around to score. Jessica Gipson followed with a 2-run homer, and the Tars were up 6-0.
The final stat line for Wolfe showed only one earned run against the sophomore pitcher, and just five hits allowed, though she fell to 6-10 on the season. She had no strikeouts and three walks. The only Rollins or Florida Southern player with more than one hit in the game was Hilary Brown, who singled and scored as part of the 6-run third inning, and doubled in the fourth.
The Moccasins’ only hit came from Jordan Alexander, who doubled leading off the top of the second inning. Gianni Artidiello was hit by a pitch to start the game and also reached on an error in the third inning, but the final 13 batters went down in order after that against Sullivan. In upping her record to 13-4, Sullivan struck out five and did not issue a walk in pitching the Tars’ second 1-hitter of the series, and her sixth shutout of the season.
Fogle had the first of those 1-hitters on Friday night, but when the Moccasins (17-29, 6-15) faced her again in the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader, they had two in the first inning and turned them into a 1-0 lead. Artidiello led off the game with a single to left, and after a 2-out walk to Leah Pemberton, she came home on a single by Alexander.
Rollins went down 1-2-3 in the first two innings against Florida Southern pitcher Chelsea Oglevie (11-16), but in the third the Tars scored four runs on four hits. Courtney Durbin’s double was the first of those hits, and Fogle helped her own cause with an RBI single that tied the game. Hoeffer later hit a 3-run homer in the inning to give Rollins a 4-1 lead.
A solo home run by Durbin in the bottom of the fourth put Rollins ahead 5-1, but the Tars were denied another home run on a bizarre appeal play. Just before Durbin’s shot, Brittany Johnson had hit one over the fence in left center, but missed home plate before returning to the dugout. When the Mocs appealed, Johnson was called out, resulting in a triple, but no run and the second out of the inning.
Rollins tacked on three more runs in the sixth inning, with two coming in on another single by Fogle. After going 3-for-3 with three RBI at the plate, the freshman pitcher closed out the game with a 1-2-3 seventh, improving her record to 23-3 on the season. She gave up one run on four hits, struck out three and walked two.
Artidiello and Alexander had two of the Moccasin hits in the top of the first inning, and Pemberton Heather Brinkmeier had the other two in the top of the fourth. Pemberton and Brinkmeier also had Florida Southern’s two walks.
Rollins had 12 hits in the game, including three apiece from Durbin and Fogle.
Florida Southern will play its final conference series of the year next week when it hosts #25 Saint Leo at Barnett Field. The first game is Thursday night at 7:00, with a doubleheader scheduled for Friday afternoon at 1:00.
