Two More 1-0 Games, But Saint Leo Takes Both on Saturday

SAINT LEO â€" After a 1-0 win by Florida Southern on Thursday in the first game of the series, the Moccasins and Saint Leo Lions battled through two more 1-0 games when the series resumed on Saturday. Both of these, however, went to the Lions despite fabulous pitching by freshman Brandi Jones and senior Chelsea Oglevie. Ashley Ehlers pitched a no-hitter in the first one before winning the second one in relief when Sarah Steiner’s RBI single in the bottom of the tenth was the difference.

Combining for just three runs in the series, Florida Southern (22-19, 8-13 Sunshine State Conference) and Saint Leo (28-19, 10-11) were forced to postpone their doubleheader from Friday due to rain. It started late on Saturday too when more rain and field conditions pushed it back by an hour. By the time it was finished, Florida Southern had played three 1-0 games in a series for the first time since the league adopted that format in 2004. The Mocs had twice played a series where only four runs were scored, including one at Saint Leo in 2006 where they twice won 1-0 and lost 2-0.

Through four innings of game one neither team could score, though Saint Leo had a hit in all of them. The Lions even put their first two runners of the game on base with a bunt single by Adriana Sanders and a walk by McKenzie Burns, but Sanders was caught trying to steal third and Burns was stranded at second after back-to-back strikeouts by Jones (Snellville, Ga.).

The Lions also left a runner at second in the third and fourth innings, each time following a 2-out single and stolen base. They finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth though, using their running game to manufacture a run. A bunt single by Rachael Heath and a single by Burns put Lions at first and second with two out.  When both runners took off on a double steal, the Moccasins were a little late covering the bag at third and the throw carried down the line into left field, allowing Heath to score.

The Lions got two more hits in the sixth with a double by pinch-hitter Danielle Ferrara and a single by Angela Kafalis. It didn’t produce a run though as Florida Southern senior centerfielder Allasyn Lieneck (Oldsmar, Fla.) threw pinch-runner Jessica LoBianco out at home. It was Lieneck’s fifth outfield assist of the season, all of them coming on direct throws to the plate.

Jones ended up taking the loss for Florida Southern, falling to 10-8, even though the only run against her scored on an error. She was also on the wrong end of a no-hitter earlier this year, but won that game when the Mocs used an error and a wild pitch to beat Wayne State (MI) 1-0. Against Saint Leo, Jones allowed eight hits, no earned runs, struck out seven and walked one.

The only base runners Florida Southern had against Ehlers (11-5) came on walks by senior Heather Brinkmeier (Port St. Joe, Fla.) in the second inning, freshman Sierra Lacey (Seffner, Fla.) in the fifth, and junior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) in the seventh. The Mocs got the last one into scoring position before Brinkmeier flied out to right center to end the game.

In addition to the three walks, Ehlers had two strikeouts and got defensive help from second baseman Michelle George. With two out in the sixth inning, George dove to her right to stop a hard-hit ground ball off the bat of senior Christie Bailey (Jacksonville, Fla.) and threw to first for the out to preserve the no-hitter.

In the second game, both pitchers, Oglevie for Florida Southern and Alana Tabel for Saint Leo, were nearly unhittable in the early going. Tabel did take a no-hitter into extra innings, and Oglevie allowed only one hit through the first five innings, a single through the middle of the infield by Brittany Ewing in the fourth.

In the bottom of the sixth, Saint Leo had three straight hits off Oglevie, two of them bunt singles by Heath and Burns, but couldn’t score. The senior from Tampa pitched her way out of trouble with an infield pop-up for the first out, and got the second when Sarah Steiner’s ground ball to Bailey at short turned into a force out at the plate. Oglevie then got Chelsey Steedley to fly out to left, leaving the bases full of Lions.

In the bottom of the seventh, Oglevie again worked out of a tight spot after back-to-back 1-out singles by Kafalas and George. This time, Lieneck tracked down a ball in right center to hold the runners and junior Kylee Stearns (Lakeland, Fla.) made the final out of the inning with a catch in left.

After being held to just one base runner through the first seven innings (Gonzalez reached on a hit-by-pitch in the fifth), the Moccasins had two of them in the eighth when junior Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.) was hit leading off the inning, and Lacey walked. It was Tabel’s turn to pitch out of trouble then, as the sophomore got a strikeout and fly ball for the final two outs.

Bailey broke up the no-hit bid by Tabel with a double in the top of the ninth but was left there, and the Moccasins met with even more frustration in the top of the tenth when their first two batters reached safely. Booker was the first with a single to center, and Lieneck also reached when the Lions tried to throw freshman pinch-runner Jamie Graziani (New Castle, Pa.) out at second on a sacrifice bunt. But with one out and Brinkmeier at the plate, Graziani was caught between second and third and eventually thrown out in a run-down play, and Lieneck was caught stealing second for the final out of the inning.

Saint Leo won the game in the bottom half of the inning after a leadoff double by Sanders. Burns reached on an infield single, her third hit of the game, though Sanders was forced to hold at second. Both runners were advanced with a bunt by Ewing, and Steiner followed with a single over the drawn-in outfield that scored Sanders.

That made a winner of Ehlers, who had come on in the top of the tenth after Booker’s single. She was the beneficiary of the two caught stealing plays and also had a strikeout. Before that, Tabel had allowed two hits in 9.0 innings, striking out six and walking one.

Oglevie fell to 10-10, allowing only the one run in 9.1 innings. She gave up 12 hits, including four infield singles, struck out one and did not issue a walk.

Florida Southern will wrap up the season on April 25 and 26 with a 3-game series against Eckerd. The first game is Friday night at 7 p.m., with a doubleheader scheduled for 1 p.m. on Saturday.