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Box Score 2 LAKELAND – Leah Pemberton had the big bat for Florida Southern Wednesday night, hitting everything in sight. Hannah Loyer and Brandi Jones provided the pitching and kept Colorado Christian off the scoreboard. With Pemberton picking up five hits and four RBI in the doubleheader, another fantastic relief outing by Loyer, and a complete game shutout from Jones, the Moccasins downed the Cougars 7-5 and 2-0 in their 2015 home opener.
A junior from nearby Valrico, Pemberton had the best night of her career, collecting a double and a go-ahead 2-run homer in the first game, and going 3-for-3 with another double and one RBI in the second. The Moccasins (6-1) also got three hits apiece from senior Kylee Stearns (Lakeland, Fla.) and junior Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.).
Loyer and Jones were the winning pitchers for Florida Southern, with Loyer coming on in the fourth inning of game one and shutting out the Cougars (2-6) the rest of the way for her first win of the season as the Mocs came back from a 5-4 deficit. Jones then tossed a 2-hit shutout in the nightcap to up her record to 4-0.
Game one saw one team or the other score in every inning but the seventh, with the Moccasins picking up 11 hits and the Cougars picking up seven. The two teams combined for nine extra-base hits too: five by Florida Southern and four by Colorado Christian. The first one came from CCU though, when Danielle Romine tripled to drive in her sister Jessica Romine in the top of the first inning for the first run of the game.
The Moccasins came back with two in the bottom of the first after loading the bases with one out on singles by seniors Gianni Artidiello (Miami, Fla.) and Jessica Lanci (Orlando, Fla.), and a walk by junior Maggie Roberts (Lakeland, Fla.). Senior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) then drew a walk to force in Artidiello and knock CCU starting pitcher Jennie Winston out of the game early. Pemberton greeted Tana Feiner with a line drive to short, but when the Cougars tried to double off Gonzalez, the throw was off the mark and allowed Lanci to score from third.
Back-to-back doubles by senior Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.) and Stearns gave Florida Southern a 3-1 lead in the second inning, but the Cougars got a 3-run homer from Letty Valenzuela in the top of the third to re-claim the lead. An RBI double by Pemberton in the bottom of the inning tied the score at four, but Colorado Christian went back on top again in the top of the fourth on an RBI triple by Stephanie Latham.
Loyer entered the game at that point for Florida Southern and kept it a 5-4 game with a strikeout and popup. She then survived two walks to start the fifth inning with two more strikeouts and pitched two more scoreless innings after that to finish the game. She gave up just one hit, struck out four and walked three. The sophomore from Bradenton has now made two relief appearances for the Moccasins this year, and pitched a total of 7.1 innings without allowing a run.
Pemberton's home run came in the bottom of the fifth and came immediately after a base hit by Gonzalez. The junior second baseman easily cleared the fence in left center for the first of her career, giving the Mocs a 6-5 lead. They added an insurance run in the sixth on an RBI single by Roberts.
In game two, Pemberton went 3-for-3 with an RBI double in the third inning. The Mocs scored both of their runs in that frame after an error allowed Alexander to reach safely and Lanci followed with a single. Alexander scored on a fielder's choice grounder hit by Gonzalez, and Lanci came home on Pemberton's double.
Jones allowed only three base runners in the game, a double by Billante in the third, an infield single by Jessica Romine in the seventh, with another batter reaching on an error in the seventh inning as well. The Cougars stranded Billante though when Alexander made a nice running catch in left center to end the third, and Jones got two strikeouts around an infield fly to leave runners at second and third in the seventh.
Mariah Bledsoe took the loss for Colorado Christian without allowing an earned run. She gave up seven hits with neither a strikeout nor a walk.
Florida Southern will be on the road for a pair of doubleheaders this weekend, with Friday's game at Flagler moved up to 2 p.m. to avoid possible sub-freezing temperatures at night. The Moccasins will also play Georgia Southwestern in St. Augustine on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.
