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Box Score 2 LAKELAND - Florida Southern's seniors all stood tall in their final games together, and sophomore Jordan Alexander sent them out with a walk-off win, but an act of kindness for Eckerd's Kara Oberer by Chelsea Oglevie and all of the Moccasins' is what will most be remembered in all their years to come.
Alexander's RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning gave Florida Southern a 2-1 victory in game two, after the injured Kara Oberer was carried around the bases by FSC players on a 7th-inning, game-winning homer in game one that gave Eckerd a 4-2 win.
Both teams were wrapping up the season, and all three games of the series were decided either in extra innings or on dramatic hits in the seventh inning, none more so than Oberer's 3-run homer in the first game of Saturday's doubleheader that gave the Tritons a 4-2 win. The sophomore shortstop had left the game in the first inning due to injury, but with Eckerd trailing 2-1 with two out in the top of the seventh, and two runners on base, she was re-inserted into her #3 spot in the lineup, barely able to stand in the batter's box.
Taking the count to 2-2, Oberer launched a ball over the leftfield fence for her eighth home run of the season. While Brittany Martinez and Amber Hay came around the bases to score, Oberer barely made it to first while limping down the baseline. After stopping there she continued a few feet further, and seeing her unable to continue, Florida Southern sophomore second baseman Leah Pemberton came to her assistance, as well as senior pitcher Chelsea Oglevie, who had just given up the home run in the final appearance of her career. They helped her the remainder of the way until Oberer could touch home plate on her own.
It was surely a senior day moment for the history books of both teams and was ultimately the biggest moment of the doubleheader. It was reminiscent of a similar scene at Central Washington in 2008, when two players from that Division II team also helped an injured player from Western Oregon around the bases on a home run. Oglevie took the sportsmanship to an even higher level, not only as the pitcher of record, but as a senior on Senior Day, on a pitch that turned out to be the last of her career. It was a moment, however, that will never be forgotten as far as the Moccasins and Tritons are concerned.
Although that moment gloriously dominated the day, there was plenty of excitement for both teams, and all four Florida Southern seniors took charge in the final games of their career. Despite taking the loss in the opener, Oglevie was dominant for most of the game; Allasyn Lieneck had three hits and a walk in the doubleheader, made one of her trademark defensive plays in center, and a couple of other tough catches look easy; Christie Bailey, who had three hits and set up the winning run in Friday night's 15-inning win, had another hit and a walk on Saturday, and also made a couple of nice defensive stops at shortstop; and Heather Brinkmeier ended up as one of the heroes with her RBI single in the bottom of the seventh inning of game two that tied the score at one.
The Moccasins (24-20, 10-14 Sunshine State Conference) took a 2-0 lead in the opener when they scored twice in the bottom of the first inning. Bailey got them started with a 1-out double, and Pemberton followed with a single to put runners at the corners. A squeeze bunt by Gonzalez brought Bailey in, and Lieneck later delivered an RBI single that knocked Pemberton across.
Eckerd pitcher Erin Dixson kept the Mocs from scoring the rest of the game though, and after giving up three hits in the first inning, she allowed only five the rest of the way. The Mocs did threaten in both the sixth and seventh innings, with two base runners in each, but left them stranded. In the bottom of the seventh, after Oberer's blast had put Eckerd on top 4-2, the Mocs got a walk from Bailey and a double from Gonzalez, but Dixson snagged a hard-hit ground ball by junior Kim Booker and threw to first for the final out.
Dixson improved to 15-13, a school record for wins, by allowing only one earned run on eight hits. She struck out three and walked two. Oglevie fell to 10-11, giving up four runs on seven hits, with three strikeouts and two walks.
In game two, the Moccasins were held scoreless by Amber Hay through the first six innings before scoring two runs on four hits in the bottom of the seventh for the 2-1 win. Booker led off the last inning with a single through the left side of the infield, and Lieneck followed with another single into left. Freshman Hannah Loyer walked to load the bases for Brinkmeier, whose final career at-bat was yet another single into left, tying the score at 1-1.
Eckerd briefly staved off defeat by getting a force out at the plate, but that turned the lineup over and brought Alexander to the plate. Her single up the middle knocked in Loyer with the game-winning run.
That hit also made a winner of freshman Brandi Jones, who went the distance without allowing an earned run. The Tritons had just three hits off Jones (11-8), who retired the final 12 Eckerd batters of the game after Sydney Dinelli had led off the top of the fourth with a double. Jones struck out five and walked one.
Dinelli also singled and scored on a base hit by Brittany Mitchell in the second inning to give Eckerd a 1-0 lead it held all the way into the seventh.
Hay suffered the loss for Eckerd, falling to 11-12, though she allowed only two runs on seven hits. She struck out one and walked two.
With the results, Eckerd wrapped up its best season in team history, while Florida Southern coach Chris Bellotto reached another milestone win. In completing her 33rd season as the Moccasins' head coach, Bellotto took over sole possession of second place on the all-time NCAA Division II wins list. Officially, she has 1,147 (the NCAA does not recognize slow-pitch wins in three seasons, or four forfeit victories), which moved her ahead of Frank Cheek, who retired at Humboldt State in 2013.
Still ahead of Bellotto is the all-time leader, Jan Hutchinson, who won 1,215 games at Bloomsburg (PA) from 1978-2010.
