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Box Score 2 WEST PALM BEACH – Florida Southern had 12 hits in the first game of its doubleheader at Palm Beach Atlantic Tuesday night, using half of them in one inning to do most of its scoring in a 5-2 win over the Sailfish. In game two, Palm Beach Atlantic scored four runs in the first two innings and four in the final two innings to earn a split with an 8-0 win over the Moccasins.
The Moccasins (11-4) took control of game one with three runs in the top of the fourth, all of them the product of six consecutive 2-out hits that started with freshman Ashlyn Worcester (Bloomingdale, Ill.). Senior Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.) then looped a single into short right, and a double by senior Kylee Stearns (Lakeland, Fla.) into the left centerfield gap brought in Worcester with the go-ahead run. Junior Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.) followed with a 2-run single that chased PBA starting pitcher Jana Wagner and made the score 4-1. The Mocs got two more hits from senior Gianni Artidiello (Miami, Fla.) and junior Leah Pemberton (Valrico, Fla.) before relief pitcher Rachel Hill finally brought the inning to a close.
Hill nearly kept Florida Southern off the scoreboard the rest of the game, but the Mocs scratched out another run with two out in the top of the seventh after hits by junior Maggie Roberts (Lakeland, Fla.) and senior Jessica Lanci (Orlando, Fla.). Freshman pinch-runner Jordan Sheppard (Germantown, Md.) scored the run for Florida Southern by stealing home as part of a double-steal with Lanci.
Both teams had scored early in the game with Florida Southern getting an RBI single from senior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) in the top of the first to drive in Artidiello who had also reached on a single. PBA countered with one in the bottom of the second, using doubles by Lindsey Johnson and Brianna Rano to tie the score 1-1.
As the game progressed, every Moccasin in the lineup picked up at least one hit with Alexander, Artidiello and Stearns all recording two. Meanwhile, sophomore Brandi Jones (Snellville, Ga.) limited the Sailfish to five hits while striking out six and walking three.
Jones upped her record to 7-0 by pitching her sixth complete game of the season. She retired 10 of the last 11 batters in the game after the Sailfish were able to load the bases and score in the bottom of the fourth.
Wagner fell to 2-3 with the loss, allowing four runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings. Hill went the final 3.1 innings for PBA, giving up one run on five hits with four strikeouts and no walks.
In Tuesday night's second game, Palm Beach Atlantic (7-9) scored two in the first and two in the second for a 4-0 lead. The two second-inning runs were especially tough to take for the Moccasins. With runners at second and third and two out, Victoria Gonzalez hit a slow grounder through the pitcher's circle that Lanci got to from her shortstop position, but even with a strong throw to first, Gonzalez beat it out, allowing Kayla Knight to score from third, and Devin Williams to score from second just ahead of a quick throw from first baseman Priscilla Gonzalez back to the plate.
In the final two innings, the Sailfish got a pair of RBI from Kayla Knight, one on a single in the fifth and one when she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth. That forced in the eighth run of the game and ended it by the run rule.
Corrie Boggess (3-3) held the Moccasins to three hits in her complete game shutout, striking out four and walking one. Priscilla Gonzalez had two of those hits for Florida Southern.
Florida Southern begins Sunshine State Conference play with a 3-game series this weekend at Eckerd College. The first game is Friday night at 7 p.m., with a doubleheader on Saturday at 1 p.m.
