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LAKELAND â€" With five hits and three RBI in the doubleheader, senior Christie Bailey may have had the biggest numbers of the day, but she wasn’t the only one swinging a big bat for the Moccasins on Saturday. Florida Southern got 3-hit games from Kim Booker and Leah Pemberton in the opener, another from Bailey in the nightcap, and a complete game shutout from senior Chelsea Oglevie to defeat Lynn University 13-3 and 4-0.
The top of the first inning in game one took nearly 20 minutes to complete as Florida Southern (11-7, 4-2 Sunshine State Conference) sent 12 batters to the plate and scored eight runs. The big inning featured two hits by Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.) and a 2-run double by senior Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, Fla.). The Moccasins had five hits overall in the top of the first and also received two walks while the Knights committed one error.
Alexander’s leadoff single started it and she scored the first run when Lynn pitcher Kasey Murray made a wild throw on a sacrifice bunt by Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.). The Mocs added another run on a ground ball hit by Dayna Hunn (Morriston, Fla.), a play where the Knights couldn’t get an out at the plate, and an RBI single by Booker (Bartow, Fla.) made it 3-0. After a walk to Pemberton (Valrico, Fla.), Lieneck hit her 2-run double. That brought relief pitcher Katelyn Key into the game, and her wild pitch brought in Pemberton to make the score 6-0. Alexander then delivered a run-scoring single and Bailey (Jacksonville, Fla.) made it 8-0 with an RBI double to deep center.
The Mocs could have scored more in the second inning but left the bases loaded after three singles. They did score again in the third, however, when Bailey hit her second double of the game and came home on a single by senior Heather Brinkmeier (Port St. Joe, Fla.).
Trailing 9-0 at that point, Lynn (16-13, 0-6) tried to rally with three runs in the bottom of the third, all of them on home runs by Leanne Wright and Devin Kochergen. Wright’s blast came leading off the inning and Kochergen’s league-leading ninth home run of the season followed a walk to Jasmine Campos.
The Moccasins were still able to win by the 8-run rule though by scoring two more in the fourth and two in the fifth. One run in each of those innings scored on a Lynn error, and the other two came on an RBI single by Kylee Stearns (Lakeland, Fla.) and a solo home run by Hunn. It was the first home run hit by a Moccasin this season.
Florida Southern had a total of 16 hits, and six different Moccasins had at least two. Booker and Pemberton each had three, with Pemberton also walking once in her four plate appearances. Alexander, Bailey, Brinkmeier, and Lieneck all had two, and Hunn and Stearns had one apiece. Ironically, the only Moccasin who did not have a hit was Gonzalez, who had a sacrifice bunt, a pop-up, ground out and fly out to end her 16-game hitting streak. It was the longest in team history for a player at the start of her career.
The Knights had only three hits off Moccasin freshman Brandi Jones (Snellville, Ga.), though two of them were home runs. Jones also walked two and struck out six in the 5-inning game, improving her record to 6-3.
In game two, Florida Southern scored three unearned runs in the top of the second and then relied on Oglevie to do the rest. The senior from Tampa tossed her second shutout of the year by scattering six hits without a walk, and striking out two. She’s now 5-4 on the season.
The Knights got two of their hits in the fourth inning but left both of them in scoring position when Oglevie fanned Cherise McEnery and got Crystal Cano to fly out to deep center. The Knights got two more hits in the fifth, but an attempted double steal with one out didn’t work when Booker threw Sara Vazquez out at third. That was the last chance Lynn had, as Oglevie retired the final seven hitters of the game.
Florida Southern scored its three second-inning runs on just two hits and was aided by three Lynn errors, all of them with two out. Pitcher Missy Montgomery retired the first two hitters before Lieneck reached on a bunt single. Stearns tried to bunt for a hit too, and Montgomery fielded this one in time but her throw to first was dropped, keeping the inning alive for the Mocs. She almost got out of it when Alexander hit a ground ball to short, only to have Jasmine Campos first bobble it and then throw it away. That allowed Lieneck to score the first run and the other two scored on a single by Bailey.
The Mocs didn’t score again until the top of the seventh when singles by Stearns and Alexander, along with a ground out by Bailey, led to a sacrifice fly by Gonzalez.
The seventh-inning run was the only one given up by Montgomery that was earned. The Mocs touched her for eight hits, and Montgomery neither walked a batter nor had a strikeout. She’s now 7-4 on the season, with two of those losses coming to Florida Southern.
Florida Southern will be back at home on Tuesday for a non-conference doubleheader against American International (MA) at 6 p.m.
