Box Score 1
LAKELAND - Florida Southern completed its three-game Sunshine State Conference sweep of 13th-ranked Nova Southeastern here Saturday afternoon by taking ends of a doubleheader at historic Henley Field.
The 19th-ranked Moccasins opened the doubleheader by earning an 8-1 win (Box Score) in the first game, before capping the doubleheader with a 1-0 shutout win (Box Score) in the nightcap over the Sharks. FSC opened the series by earning a 7-6 win in 12 innings in Friday's series opener thanks to a game-winning RBI single by redshirt sophomore rightfielder Dominic Brugnoni (St. Clair Shores, Mich.).
In the doubleheader, the Mocs pounded out 21 hits, including recording 15 hits in Saturday's first game. In addition to recording 21 hits, the Mocs also got two outstanding starting pitching performances from senior Brian Johnson (Oldsmar, Fla.) and sophomore Ben Richardson (Orlando, Fla.).
With the doubleheader sweep, the Mocs improve to 25-11 overall and 8-4 in the SSC, while NSU falls to 24-10 overall and 8-7 in the league. It marked the first time this season that the Sharks had been swept in a three-game series.
In the opener, NSU jumped out in front 1-0 in the opening inning thanks to two singles, a wild pitch by Johnson and a sacrifice fly.
The Mocs, though, would respond by plating three runs on five hits to take a 3-1 lead after the first inning. The first run came in on an RBI single to left by junior third baseman Chris Dennis (Rockledge, Fla.) and added two more runs later in the inning on a 2-run single through the left side off the bat of junior catcher Joey Miller (Sarasota, Fla.).
FSC's lead grew to 4-1 in the second inning thanks to an error by NSU shortstop Casey Gibson that led to an unearned run following an RBI groundout by Dennis. Dennis' groundout scored senior second baseman Conor Szczerba (Titusville, Fla.), who had reached on Gibson's fielding error to lead off the inning.
The Mocs lead increased to 5-1 in the third inning on an RBI single by senior shortstop Jimmy Correnti (Fort Myers, Fla.) off of NSU starting hurler Julian Loret de Mola. Correnti's single scored Miller from second base as he reached on a one-out single and moved to second on a groundout by senior leftfielder J.J. Downum (Land O'Lakes, Fla.).
Correnti's single gave Johnson more than enough run support as he would retire 12 of the next 15 batters over four innings to earn his fourth win of the season. For the game, Johnson pitched seven innings and allowed just four hits and one run, while walking one and striking out four to improve to 4-3 on the season. From the fourth to the seventh inning, he allowed just two hits and had six ground ball outs.
The Mocs pushed its lead to 7-1 in the sixth inning on an infield RBI single by freshman designated hitter Scottie Withrow (Seminole, Fla.) and Correnti drove in the second run on a fielder's choice. FSC's other hit in the inning was a lead-off single by Brugnoni, who was able to advance to third on a throwing error by NSU third baseman Kavan Thompson.
FSC completed the game's scoring in the eighth inning on an RBI single by senior first baseman Trey Vavra (Menomonie, Wis.). Vavra's single allowed Correnti to score from third base after opening the inning by striking out, but he reached first base when the third strike got away from the catcher for a wild pitch by Casey Kopec. Correnti would then reach third base later in the inning on another Kopec wild pitch.
Junior Austin Barnett (Lakeland, Fla.) pitched the final two innings in the first game for the Mocs as he allowed just two hits and no runs.
Brugnoni and Withrow each recorded three hits in the win, while Correnti, Miller and Vavra each had two hits. For the game, eight of the nine Moccasin starters recorded at least one hit.
Loret de Mola (6-2) took the loss for the Sharks as he pitched 2.2 innings and allowed eight hits and five runs (four earned runs), while walking none and striking out one.
Geoff Jimenez led the Sharks with two of their six hits in the loss.
Meanwhile, in the nightcap, neither team was able to score in the first three innings, before the fourth inning when the Mocs recorded two hits and used a sacrifice fly to score the game's only run.
Staked to a 1-0 lead, Richardson did the rest on the mound for the Mocs as he pitched a complete game four-hit shutout as he struck out four Sharks and did not walk a batter in his 81-pitch outing. The win improved Richardson to 6-3 on the season and lowered his ERA almost a run to 3.38 on the season. He entered the game with a 4.32 ERA this season.
The only trouble Richardson had was in the second inning as the Sharks put a runners on second and third with two outs, but got out of the jam by forcing Thompson to ground out to end the inning with two runners on base.
In the fourth, Vavra led off the inning with a double to left field and moved to third on a bunt single by Dennis off of NSU starting pitcher Dillon Frye. Brugnoni followed Dennis' bunt single with a fly out to right that allowed Vavra to score from third base for the game's first and only run.
The Mocs had a chance to increase its lead in the fifth as they loaded the bases thanks to back-to-back singles from freshman catcher Kevin Fuller (Ocala, Fla.) and Szczerba and junior centerfielder Keith Curcio (Sarasota, Fla.), who reached on an error by NSU first baseman Andres Visbal with one out. But, Frye would battle out of the jam by striking out Vavra and forcing Dennis to fly out to left to end the inning.
Frye (2-3) took the loss in the nightcap as he pitched five innings and allowed five hits and one run, while striking out two and walking none.
The Mocs had six hits and committed two errors in the nightcap, while NSU had four hits and also committed two errors.
Vavra led the way with two hits in the nightcap for the Mocs, while Brooks Fleming had two hits for the Sharks in the loss.
The Mocs will step out of SSC play for a non-conference game on Tuesday, April 8 as they travel to Lake Wales for a 3:30 p.m. game at Warner. The Mocs collected a 17-0 win over the Royals in Lakeland on March 18.
