Box Score CLEARWATER – Florida Southern's newest additions to the lineup didn't wait long to make their presence felt. Neither did a few returning players either. Junior college transfer Maggie Roberts went 3-for-3 with an RBI and scored twice, another JC transfer, Taylor Bowen, notched a complete game win, and veterans Priscilla Gonzalez and Leah Pemberton put things out of reach late as the Moccasins began 2015 with a 6-3 win over West Florida.
Roberts, a junior from Lakeland and Polk State College, singled in her first three at-bats Friday before drawing a walk in her fourth trip to the plate. Her third hit turned into the tying run that knotted the score at two apiece in the bottom of the fifth and she later walked as part of a 3-run sixth inning that featured a 2-run double by Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) and an RBI single by Pemberton (Valrico, Fla.).
Bowen, who transferred from the College of Central Florida, scattered six hits, struck out six and walked two in going the distance. After allowing a run in the top of the first, the junior from Newberry, Florida settled down and at one point retired 11 in a row from the second through fifth innings. She later got defensive help from junior right fielder Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.), who threw a runner out at the plate to end the fifth, and senior catcher Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.), who threw a runner out stealing in the sixth when the Mocs were still clinging to a 3-2 lead.
A third newcomer to the lineup, freshman centerfielder Ashlyn Worcester (Bloomingdale, Ill.) also had a productive debut, going 1-for-3.
Both pitchers had to battle through a lengthy first inning that took 24 minutes to play even with only a single run scored. That came from West Florida, which turned a single and stolen base by Emily Pettigrew into a run when cleanup hitter Jenna Belser doubled to left.
The Moccasins left a pair of runners on base in the bottom of the first but took advantage of their next scoring opportunity in the third. It was a 2-out rally that started with a walk to Alexander. Senior Jessica Lanci (Orlando, Fla.) singled her to second, and Alexander scored the tying run on a base hit by Roberts.
West Florida re-claimed the lead in the top of the fifth with an infield single, stolen base and error, but Florida Southern came back with two runs in the bottom half of the inning. Both of those runs scored on a throwing error after Roberts had singled and Gonzalez had walked.
Still leading 3-2 in the bottom of the sixth, the Moccasins tacked on three more runs, two of them scoring a double by Gonzalez and one scoring on Pemberton's single.
The Argonauts got to Bowen for a run in the top of the seventh after Meghan Toney singled and Alex Marianakis walked to start the inning, but the junior got three ground outs and stranded runners at second and third to end the game.
