Box Score
CLEARWATER â€" When Allasyn Lieneck drove in the go-ahead run with a single that bounced off the second base bag that was odd enough. When Jessica Lanci did it again later in the game, that was odd. What wasn’t so odd was the performance of freshman Brandi Jones. Coming within one strike of a shutout in her second college game, Jones allowed just four hits in pitching Florida Southern to a 3-1 win over Colorado Christian at the Eckerd College Invitational Saturday night.
Jones was making her second start of the young season for Florida Southern (1-2), and in addition to giving up only four hits to a team hitting .367 coming into the day, she also struck out 12 and issued no walks. The freshman from Snellville, Georgia gave up two hits through the first six innings, but lost her shutout bid with two out and strikes on Alexa Coffing in the bottom of the seventh. The Cougars (4-4) had put their leadoff batter on in the seventh when Sarah Rasmussen hit a slow dribbler down the first base line for an infield single. Coffing later doubled her in for the Cougars’ only run.
Jones then finished off the game with a called third strike against Dana Rex. She had at least two strikeouts in four innings, and most of the other outs came on lazy pop flies.
Florida Southern scored its first run in the top of the second inning, getting hits from the seventh and eighth batters in the lineup, and a run-scoring single from Lieneck, who was in the leadoff slot. The first two hits came from junior Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.) and sophomore Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.), putting runners at first and second. After a force out at third, Lieneck, a senior from nearby Oldsmar, hit a ball up the middle that the Cougars were ready to turn into another force out. However, the ball ricocheted off the corner of the second base bag for an infield single which allowed Alexander to score uncontested.
Over the next four innings, the Moccasins were held to just two hits by CCU starter Katie Edison, a single by Alexander in the fourth and a single by junior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) in the sixth. In the top of the seventh though, they broke through for two runs, again aided by the second base bag.
All of the seventh-inning damage came with two out. Lieneck’s bunt single started things, and senior Christie Bailey (Jacksonville, Fla.) reached on an error to keep the inning going. Lanci (Orlando, Fla.) then hit a ball up the middle that was likely headed for centerfield anyway, but for the second time in the game bounced right off second base for an RBI single, with Lieneck coming in to score. Sophomore Leah Pemberton (Valrico, Fla.) followed with another RBI single to make the score 3-0.
Edison took the loss, her first decision of the year, despite giving up only one earned run on nine hits. She struck out two and walked one. Lieneck, Lanci and Alexander each had two of the nine hits against her.
Florida Southern will play its final game in the Eckerd College Invitational on Sunday at 12:30 p.m. against Flagler.
