Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2
CLEARWATER â€" The results weren’t what the Moccasins were looking for Friday in their 2014 debut, and the weather wasn’t what anyone was looking for, but by the end of the night, a new group of Florida Southern players had given head coach Chris Bellotto quite a few things to be happy about. A couple of old veterans did too. The Mocs, however, dropped game one to Shorter, 7-4, and game two to Palm Beach Atlantic, 3-2.
One of the standouts was junior college transfer Priscilla Gonzalez, who went 3-for-7 with one RBI and made a nice scoop at first base for an out in game two. Another JC transfer, Kim Booker, went 2-for-6 with a double and gunned down two runners attempting to steal. Transfers Jessica Lanci and Kylee Stearns were on base multiple times too throughout the night with one RBI apiece, and Lanci stole two bases to go along with a flawless effort at shortstop.
The biggest bat though belonged to senior Christie Bailey, who’s moved to third base this year, and went 3-for-5 with two walks and three RBI. Another of the Mocs’ returning seniors, centerfielder Allasyn Lieneck, pulled off one of her defensive specialties by throwing a runner out at the plate and had four productive plate appearances in the two games.
In game one, the weather was a factor for both teams with a light but steady rain falling for most of the evening. The two pitchers, senior Chelsea Oglevie for Florida Southern, and Christina Ezell for Shorter, both struggled with wet softballs and the muddy ground, and walks played a big part in the early scoring on each side. The scored stood at 5-3 after three innings, with two of Florida Southern’s runs crossing the plate on base-loaded walks, and two of Shorter’s runs scored by players who had reached on walks.
Shorter (3-2) took a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning with three of those runs coming on a home run by Megan Christensen. That came after the Hawks had already scored following a leadoff walk, stolen base, error, and a sacrifice fly by Kendall Johnson.
The Moccasins cut the deficit in half in the top of the second after Gonzalez and Booker singled around a walk by Dayna Hunn, a sequence that load the bases with one out. Gonzalez then scored when Bailey walked, and Hunn scored when Stearns also drew a free pass.
Another walk led to Florida Southern’s run in the top of the third, with Lanci reaching base to start the inning. A stolen base and sacrifice put her at third for Gonzalez, who singled her in to make the score 4-3. That was as close as the Mocs got though.
Paige Rowland delivered a solo home run for Shorter in the bottom of the third, and the Hawks added two more in the bottom of the fifth on a sac fly by Christensen and RBI double by Sarah Corn.
A double by Booker and RBI single by Bailey gave the Mocs one run in the top of the sixth, making it a 7-4 game, but Ezell retired them in order in the seventh to end the game. The Mocs had six hits and five walks off Ezell, but the senior who averaged a little over eight strikeouts a game last year had 14 strikeouts on Friday. She now has 33 in 23 innings for the season.
Gonzalez and Booker each had two of Florida Southern’s six hits, and Bailey drove in two runs. Oglevie took the loss for Florida Southern, exiting in the fifth inning in favor of Kelli Connors, who pitched 1.2 innings of scoreless relief.
Game two saw a lot less scoring, even though both teams had at least one base runner in every inning, and at least one hit in all but one. Palm Beach Atlantic used four hits from Jen Hunter, two RBI from Mackenzie Johnson and a go-ahead sacrifice fly by Shelby Wood in the sixth inning to take the 3-2 victory.
Johnson gave PBA (0-1) the first run of the game with a solo home run in the top of the second inning, a ball down the leftfield line that barely stayed fair. One inning later she made it 2-0 with a walk after the Sailfish had loaded the bases with one out. That inning was started by Hunter, who hit the third base bag with a ground ball that went for a single.
Florida Southern (0-2) made it 2-1 in the bottom half of the third, which started with a Jordan Alexander triple down the right field line. Lieneck gave the Mocs another base runner when she was hit by a pitch and stole second before Bailey’s hot shot to third was handled by Johnson, who turned it into an out at first. That kept the runners at second and third, but Lanci still got one of them in with a single to left.
Two innings later the Mocs tied the game. The tying run reached base when Stearns was hit by a pitch, with Lieneck bunting pinch-runner Courtney Hogrefe into scoring position. That brought Bailey to the plate, and the senior third baseman delivered with a base hit down the left field line.
The game was tied only briefly though, as the Sailfish got a double from Victoria Gonzalez to start the top of the sixth, a single from Johnson that moved her to third, and a fly ball by Wood that brought the go-ahead run in to score. Further damage was prevented by Bailey, who scooped up a bunt on a squeeze play and got the out at home, and by Booker, who got the final out by throwing a runner out trying to steal second.
The Mocs were unable to convert a leadoff single by Leah Pemberton in the bottom of the sixth, and a one-out walk by Hogrefe in the seventh.
Amber Johnson picked up the win for Palm Beach Atlantic, though she gave up seven hits and two walks, and hit two batters. Second baseman Theresa Butler got her out of trouble in two innings by starting a pair of 4-6-3 double plays.
Freshman Brandi Jones took the loss for Florida Southern in her college debut, and for the most part worked around 11 hits by the Sailfish. She struck out seven and walked two, and seven of the 13 base runners against her came from two batters in the lineup: Jen Hunter and Mackenzie Johnson. The other PBA hitters were 5-for-21.
Florida Southern will again play two games on day two of the Eckerd College Invitational, facing 6th-ranked Valdosta State at 1:30 p.m., and Colorado Christian at 4 p.m.
