ORANGEBURG, S.C. - Florida Southern continued its season opening road swing here Friday evening by scoring runs in six of the nine innings played en route to earning a 13-2 non-conference South Region victory over Claflin University at Mirmow Field.

The 16th-ranked Moccasins, who improved to 1-2 on the season, scored 12 runs over the final five innings to turn a 2-1 deficit into a 13-2 victory.  The Mocs finished the night with 11 hits and got a six inning stellar pitching performance from junior Brady Arenson (Glenview, Ill.).

In Friday's game, junior left fielder David Lugo (Homestead, Fla.) led the Moccasin offense with three hits, while junior centerfielder Sam Machonis (Tampa, Fla.) and redshirt junior first baseman Blake Swann (Live Oak, Fla.) each had two hits in the win, while Swann added a career-high 5 RBIs.

Claflin (1-3 overall on the season) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning thanks to an RBI groundout by Harold Smith and a run scoring single by Johnny Stephenson off of Arenson. 

The Mocs, though, would answer with a run in the second inning on an RBI triple off the bat of Lugo, which plated junior right fielder Jhalan Jackson (Winter Haven, Fla.), who reached base after getting hit by a pitch, before stealing second and advancing to third on a passed ball.

From that point, neither team would score until the Mocs used three hits and a Claflin error to its advtange in the fifth inning to score three runs and take a 4-2 lead in the game. In the inning, Machonis led off with a single, stole second and would score when senior second baseman Chris Dennis (Rockledge, Fla.) reached on a double. Swann would then follow the double with a two-run single to give the Mocs its first lead of the game. 

The Mocs tacked on another four runs in the sixth inning thanks to three hits. The runs were driven in on an RBI single by Dennis, a sacrifice fly off the bat of junior third baseman Dominic Brugnoni (St. Clair Shores, Mich.) and a two-run single by Swann. 

FSC's lead grew to 9-2 in the seventh as senior left fielder Kyle Richards (Groton, Conn.) reached on a one-out double, moved to third on a single by senior catcher Joey Miller (Sarasota, Fla.) and would score on a wild pitch by Claflin's Samuel Kitchen, who was the third Panther pitcher of the game.

That 9-2 lead would be more than enough for Arenson as the left-handed transfer from Palm Beach State College would pitch six innings and scatter just seven hits and allow two runs to collect his first colleigate win as a Moccasin. In addition, he struck out eight and walked one on the night. 

The Mocs added another run in the eighth inning thanks to a hit, a walk, a hit batsman and a bases loaded walked issed by Kitchen to senior pinch hitter Jerrod Flannigan (St. Petersburg, Fla.) to make the score 10-2. Kitchen would deny any more Moccasin runs as he struck out senior left fielder Kyle Richards (Groton, Conn.) to end the innning with the bases loaded.

FSC would explode for three more runs in the ninth inning to push out to a 13-2 lead. In the inning, junior catcher Arturo Tabales (Orlando, Fla.) led off the frame with a single, moved to second after senior pinch hitter Trevor Freeman (Shalimar, Fla.) was hit by a pitch and advanced to third after junior shortstop Shawn Sanders (Citra, Fla.) drew a walk from Panther reliever James Cogman. The walk to Sanders chased Cogman from the game and the Panthers brought in Darrell Pendergrass and the first batter he faced, Dennis, reached on an error by shortstop Ronnie Cannon that allowed Tabales to score. The Mocs added its second run on a passed ball and scored its third run on a sacrifice fly by Swann.

Senior Austin Barnett (Lakeland, Fla.) pitched the seventh allowing one hit and striking out one, while junior Ben Richardson (Orlando, Fla.) pitched a perfect eighth, and junior Jake Popovich (Danville, Calif.) allowed two hits out of the bullpen in the ninth inning. 

In addition to 12 hits in the win, Machonis and Sanders each scored three times for the Mocs, while Dennis scored twice on the night. The Mocs also stole four bases, were hit four times by three different Panther pitchers and drew nine walks in the game. 

Dalton Tresvant (0-2) took the loss on the mound for Claflin as he pitched four-plus innings and allowed four hits and four runs, while walking four and striking out none. 

Cannon and Guerrero each had two hits in the loss for the Panthers, who finished the night with 10 hits in the game. 

Both teams combined for three errors, two of which were committed by Claflin, and they left a combined 20 runners on base, including 11 runners left on base by the Mocs.

The two teams will conclude the three-game weekend series tomorrow with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. at Mirmow Field.