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LAKELAND â€" Chelsea Oglevie and Brandi Jones provided the pitching, Heather Brinkmeier and Dayna Hunn provided a good portion of the offense, and Kylee Stearns added the wow factor on defense. Behind a pair of shutouts from the pitching staff, RBI from Brinkmeier and Hunn in each game, and Stearns’ dazzling play in left field, Florida Southern defeated American International on Tuesday night, 2-0 and 7-0.
The Moccasins (13-7) have now won eight in a row and had shutouts in both ends of a doubleheader for the first time in two years. Oglevie, a senior from Tampa, allowed only five singles with no walks and four strikeouts in pitching her second straight shutout in the opener; Jones, a freshman from Snellville, Georgia, followed with six innings of 2-hit ball in game two, striking out nine with no walks before freshman Hannah Loyer (Bradenton, Fla.) pitched a 1-2-3 seventh with one strikeout.
On offense, Brinkmeier and Hunn drove in one run apiece in the 2-0 win, and each player delivered another RBI as part of a 3-run third inning that blew game two open en route to a 7-0 final. The Moccasins also got three hits and one RBI from junior Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.) in the doubleheader, two hits and two walks from sophomore Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.), and a 2-run pinch-hit single from freshman Taylor Manning (Naples, Fla.) in the nightcap.
Game one saw Florida Southern strike in the bottom of the first inning when Alexander walked from the leadoff position, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by senior Christie Bailey (Jacksonville, Fla.), and scored on a double by Brinkmeier. The Mocs got their other run in the bottom of the fifth when Bailey singled leading off the inning, moved to second on a sacrifice by junior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.), and scored on a base hit by Hunn.
The only inning in which the Yellow Jackets had more than one base runner off Oglevie was the sixth when Lyndsey Letourneau and Katie Merrill singled. Oglevie ended the threat by inducing a foul pop-up by Jorrdin Miller and retired the side in order in the top of the seventh.
Stearns though deserved a lot of credit for the shutout too. The junior from Lakeland saved not one, but two, extra-base hits with two spectacular catches in deep left. The first one came in the top of the fifth when she went back on a ball hit by Marlee Haigh to make a running catch over her head before going to the ground to secure the ball. One inning later, just before the two hits by American International, Stearns made a nearly identical play in the same spot on a ball hit by Kaymell Cartwright.
That helped make a winner of Oglevie, who is now 6-4, while Jillian Bedard fell to 0-2 with the loss. Bedard gave up only one run on two hits with a strikeout and two walks before being lifted at the start of the fourth inning in favor of Alyssa Camargo. Camargo gave up one run on four hits with two strikeouts and two walks in her three innings.
Jones took the ball for Florida Southern and surrendered only a bunt single by Cartwright in the third inning, and a double by Merrill in the fourth. After that double she set down the final eight Yellow Jackets she faced, and Loyer made it 11 in a row with her prefect seventh.
The Moccasins gave Jones (7-3) the only run she really needed in the bottom of the second when Hunn reached on an error, took second on a hit by Booker and later scored on an infield single by senior Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, Fla.).
They gave Jones three more in the third when a single by Alexander and a double by Gonzalez put runners at second and third with one out. Brinkmeier put down a squeeze bunt to bring Alexander in, reaching base herself on the play, and a fly ball by Hunn was deep enough to score Gonzalez. Brinkmeier then scored on another hit by Booker to make it 4-0.
The Mocs added three more in the fifth, with a single by Brinkmeier setting the stage. The fifth-year senior from Port St. Joe, Florida eventually scored on an AIC error, and Manning’s pinch-hit single drove in two more runs after another error and a walk to Lieneck loaded the bases.
The Yellow Jackets avoided a loss by the 8-run rule when Wright threw a runner out at the plate to end the fifth inning, and three straight singles to start the sixth inning by freshman Sierra Lacey (Seffner, Fla.), Gonzalez, and Brinkmeier were left on base.
Camargo started game two for the Yellow Jackets and dropped her first decision of the year by allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits with no walks or strikeouts in three innings. Kelsey Malloy pitched the final three innings and gave up six hits but no earned runs.
Florida Southern will play four games this weekend in the Rebel Spring Games, beginning Friday with contests against Southwest Minnesota State and Concordia-St. Paul at the Winter Haven DiamondPlex. Starting times are 2 p.m. and 3:30.
