SALISBURY, N.C. - Florida Southern continued its four-game road swing here Friday afternoon as the Moccasins split a non-conference doubleheader against Catawba at Newman Park.

The Mocs opened the doubleheader with a 7-5 (Box Score) loss, but came back to post a 2-0 (Box Score) shutout in the nightcap to improve to 2-4 on the season. The win in the nightcap snapped an eight-game road losing streak for the Mocs that had dated to last season. The road swing began with a 4-1 loss on Tuesday at Florida Tech.

In the nightcap, the Mocs used an outstanding pitching performance from senior hurler Brian Johnson (Oldsmar, Fla.) and senior Nick Krolczyk (Coral Springs, Fla.) in relief to post its first shutout win of the season.

Johnson (1-1) scattered eight hits in his five shutout innings of work, while Krolczyk faced six batters over 1.2 innings of work and recorded three strikeouts and just one hit to pick up his first career save.

Johnson got all the offense he needed in the fourth inning on a 2-out solo home run off the bat of junior centerfielder Keith Curcio (Sarasota, Fla.). The homer was the first of the season for the returning First-Team All-Sunshine State Conference selection and the third on his collegiate career.

FSC added an insurance run in the sixth inning as they took advantage on a error to plate an unearned run and take a 2-0 lead in the game. The inning began with an lead-off double by junior catcher Joey Miller (Sarasota, Fla.) before moving to third on a bunt by junior shortstop Casey Eddinger (Crawfordville, Fla.) and scoring on an error by Carlos Tarrats at shortstop on a ground ball hit by junior leftfielder Trevor Freeman (Shalimar, Fla.).

Following its insurance run in the sixth, the Mocs turned the game over to its bullpen as senior Steven Burnham (Valrico, Fla.) retired the first batter of the inning on a pop up, before being replaced by Krolczyk, who strike out the final two batters of the inning.

The Mocs had another scoring chance in the seventh inning as they put runners on first and third with one out, before Catawba reliever Matt Farmakis forced Miller to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play.

In the bottom of the seventh, Krolczyk struck out the first batter, before allowing a one-out double by Mario Parisi. Parisi, though, would be left at second as the Moc righthander retired the next two Indian hitters in order to seal the win.

The Mocs had just four hits in the nightcap as along with Curcio and Miller, junior third baseman Chris Dennis (Rockledge, Fla.) and senior Jimmy Correnti (Fort Myers, Fla.) recorded a hit as a pinch hitter.

Catawba finished with nine hits as Blake Houston, Craig Brooks and Jon Wallace each had two hits in the loss.

Sean Grant (0-2) took the loss for Catawba on the mound as he threw 5.1 innings and allowed two hits, two runs (one earned run), while walking none and striking out two.

In Friday's series opener, the Mocs trailed 4-0 after four innings, but rallied to pull within 6-4 in the seventh inning. Before Catawba (1-4) added an insurance run in the bottom of the seventh inning to seal its first win of the season. FSC would add another run in the ninth to complete the scoring.

The Indians scored their first run in the bottom of the second as senior pitcher Clay Chapman (Orlando, Fla.) issued a bases loaded walk to Dylan Richardson for the game's first run.

Catawba pushed its lead to 4-0 in the third inning as they used a fielding error by Eddinger at shortstop to plate three unearned runs off of Chapman. In the inning, the Tigers recorded just one hit as Chapman hit two batters and also threw a wild pitch.

The lead grew to 5-0 in the bottom of the fourth inning thanks to a lead off solo home run by Julio Zubillaga and an RBI double by Ethan Satterfield.

FSC, though, would mount a comeback in the seventh inning as they sent seven batters to the plate and took advantage of an error by Richardson to score four unearned runs and pull within 6-4. In the inning, Curcio reached on a one-out double to right and advanced to third on a two-out infield single by Dennis. With two on and one out, sophomore right fielder Dominic Brugnoni (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) reached on Richardson's error, which allowed Curcio to score from third base. Jimmy Correnti (Fort Myers, Fla.) followed Brugnoni and hit a 3-run homer over the fence in right center to pull the Mocs within two runs at 6-4. The homer was the first of Correnti's career. Catawba's John Tuttle would prevent further damage as he forced freshman catcher Kevin Fuller (Ocala, Fla.) to fly out to left to end the inning after surrendering Correnti's homer.

Prior to the seventh inning, Tuttle has only allowed only two base runners in the first six innings of action. In the seventh, the Mocs recorded three of its seven hits in the game.

The Indians would come right back and push its lead back out to two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning thanks to three hits and an RBI groundout by Richardson that plated Brooks, who had reached on a one-out single through the right side.

FSC would conclude the scoring in the top of the ninth as senior first baseman Trey Vavra (Menomonie, Wis.) recorded a one-out double and would score two batters later on an RBI fielder's choice grounder by Brugnoni to pull the Mocs within 7-5. That would be as close as the Mocs got as Ryan McClintock, the third Catawba pitcher of the game, forced Correnti to fly out to right to end the game.

Dennis recorded two of the Mocs seven hits in the game. Catawba's offense was paced by three hits and two runs scored by Paul Kronenfeld and a 3-for-3 day at the plate by Mario Parisi.

Chapman (0-1) took the loss on the mound for the Mocs as he threw four innings and allowed seven hits and six runs (three earned runs), while walking three and fanning three.

Tuttle (1-1) earned the win for the Indians as he threw eight innings and allowed just five hits and four unearned runs, while walking one and fanning four. McClintock faced two batters to earn his first save of the season.

The two teams will conclude the three-game weekend series with a single nine inning game on Saturday, Feb. 8. First pitch is slated for 1 p.m. at Newman Park.