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LAKELAND â€" A 4-run first inning put Florida Southern ahead Saturday in the first game of its doubleheader with Rollins, but Niki Fogle came off the bench to help bring the Tars from behind as a hitter. In game two, Fogle was back in the pitcher’s circle and tossed a 4-hit shutout, leading Rollins to 14-4 and 6-0 victories on the day.
Fogle had pitched six innings on Friday night and allowed only two hits in helping the Tars (33-10, 16-5 Sunshine State Conference) win the first game of the series. Less than 24 hours later, the sophomore from White House, Tennessee went 2-for-3 with three RBI in game one of Saturday’s twin bill before pitching her seventh shutout of the season to up her record to 21-5.
Friday night saw Rollins and Florida Southern (21-17, 7-11) combine for just eight hits, but they topped that by the second inning in game one Saturday. The Tars scored twice in the top of the first when they got an RBI single from Hilary Brown and pulled off a double steal with Kristie Hoeffer scoring on the play. The Moccasins came right back though with four in the bottom of the first when they sent 10 batters to the plate and had four hits off Stephanie Sullivan.
Two Florida Southern runners reached base on miscues to start the inning, one an error and the other a fielder’s choice that failed to produce an out. Junior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) singled to load the bases and junior Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.) followed with another single that plated two runs and tied the game at two. A bases-loaded walk by senior Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, Fla.) and an RBI single by junior Kylee Stearns (Lakeland, Fla.) made it 4-2 Florida Southern.
The Mocs had three more hits in the bottom of the second when Gonzalez, Booker, and sophomore Leah Pemberton (Valrico, Fla.) strung together three straight 2-out singles. Hoeffer prevented the Mocs from scoring though when she threw out Gonzalez on a close play at the plate from centerfield. That was the last base runner of the game for the Moccasins, as Sullivan settled down and retired the final 12 Florida Southern hitters. The senior did not allow an earned run while giving up seven hits, one walk, and striking out five.
Meanwhile, Rollins scored 12 runs over the final four innings to win by the 8-run rule. The Tars got one in the third to pull within 4-3, and scored four in the fourth to take the lead for good. It was Fogle who drove in the tying run with a 2-out pinch-hit single, and when the Mocs committed two errors on a base-running play after a hit by Courtney Durbin, two more runs scored to put the Tars ahead, 6-4. An RBI infield single by Hoeffer made it 7-4.
One inning later, the Tars got an RBI single from Chelsea Reed before Fogle delivered a 2-run double that put them ahead 10-4. They tacked on four more in the top of the sixth, with Reed’s second hit of the game bringing in two of those runs.
That helped Rollins finish with 13 hits off three Florida Southern pitchers, with Veronica Alred leading the way with three, and Fogle and Reed each driving in three runs.
The Moccasins got two hits apiece from Gonzalez and Booker.
The second game of the doubleheader was scoreless until the top of the fourth. Through the first three innings, Fogle had limited Florida Southern to two hits, and freshman Brandi Jones (Snellville, Ga.) had done the same against Rollins. But in the fourth, Rollins got a 2-run homer from Reed for the first runs of the game, and a double from Brittany Johnson, who scored on a fly ball by Hailee Keisling.
Rollins expanded its 3-0 lead with three more in the top of the seventh, which featured an RBI single by Hoeffer and a 2-run single by Alred.
Fogle then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to earn the shutout, scattering four hits, walking one, and striking out five. One of those hits came from Gonzalez, who had a total of three in the doubleheader, while the others came from Pemberton, Lieneck and Stearns. The hit by Stearns came in the fifth inning and followed a walk to Lieneck, but Fogle worked around it with a ground out and line out that ended the inning.
Florida Southern will be on the road for its next series, which begins Thursday night with a single game at Saint Leo at 7 p.m. The teams will play a doubleheader as well on Friday, which starts at 11 a.m.
