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Box Score 2 LAKELAND – The home runs were plentiful Saturday afternoon at Barnett Field, so were the runs, and Florida Southern's Leah Pemberton and Jordan Alexander were two reasons why. With those two Moccasins combining for eight hits and nine RBI, and each of them going deep once, Florida Southern split a doubleheader with Lynn, losing the first game 6-5 in nine innings, and winning the second, 7-6.
Pemberton had four RBI in the first game alone, collecting a single, double, walk, and a sacrifice fly, while Alexander had a single, double, walk and one RBI. Gianni Artidiello, Maggie Roberts, and Kim Booker all had two hits as well in a new-look lineup, but a 3-run homer by Lynn's Leanne Wright tied the score in the top of the seventh and set up the Knights for an extra-inning win, with the winning run scoring on an error.
In the second game, Pemberton and Alexander each had a double, home run and two RBI, and it was Florida Southern (13-17, 1-8 Sunshine State Conference) who came from behind late after surviving a grand slam by Wright. Just as the Knights (13-12, 3-3) did in game one, the Mocs' winning run also scored on an error.
The Moccasins moved Alexander from the #2 spot in the batting order to #3, and dropped Pemberton from #3 to cleanup while bringing Kylee Stearns up to second, and that combination helped them score three times in the first three innings. Artidiello singled to start the bottom of the first, Stearns bunted her to second, and Pemberton brought her in with a base hit to left.
The Knights tied the game on an RBI double by Wright in the top of the third, but the Mocs got the lead back after Artidiello reached on an error to start the bottom of the inning and Stearns followed with a single. Alexander doubled one in, and a fly ball by Pemberton drove in the other.
Cherise McEnery homered for the second time in the series, and the seventh time this year, in the top of the fifth, bringing Lynn within 3-2, but a 2-run double by Pemberton in the bottom of the sixth made it a 5-2 game. Kaci Vassallo then started the top of the seventh by reaching on an error before a 2-out walk by Manya Lopez brought Wright to the plate. The sophomore outfielder hit the first pitch of her at-bat over the fence in left, tying the score at five.
In the ninth, Vassallo was again the leadoff batter, and started the inning with a double. A bunt single by Francais Olexa followed, with Vassallo not only reaching third, but scoring when the throw to first went wide of the bag. The Mocs had a chance to tie in the bottom of the ninth when Booker singled with one out and moved to second on a sacrifice by Jessica Lanci, but Olexa, who pitched most of the game in relief of Missy Montgomery, shut the door with a strikeout.
Olexa (4-6) went the final 7.0 innings and though she gave up seven hits, two walks, and a hit batter, the freshman from Delta, British Columbia did not allow an earned run. She came on for Montgomery in the bottom of the third with two on and none out and eventually left the bases loaded. Olexa also left them full in the seventh when the Mocs got singles from Ashlyn Worcester and Maggie Roberts and a walk from Artidiello but could not score.
Brandi Jones fell to 8-9 with the loss, giving up six runs, but only three earned, on 10 hits in 8.0 innings plus one batter in the ninth. She struck out six and walked four.
There was even more scoring in the second game, with Lynn going through three pitchers and Florida Southern using two before Taylor Bowen (3-4) restored order with two shutout innings at the end of the game. It was a familiar set of names who did most of the damage with McEnery and Wright picking up two hits apiece for the Knights, and Pemberton and Alexander doing the same for the Mocs. Lanci also had two hits for the Mocs and was involved in two different innings where they scored.
Pemberton put the first run of the game on the board with a solo home run leading off the bottom of the second inning, and back-to-back doubles by Alexander and Pemberton in the third made it 2-0. The Moccasin lead might have been at least four if not for two huge plays by Wright in left. In the bottom of the first she took away at least a single from Artidiello and later in the inning went crashing into the fence to deny Alexander a home run.
The Knights ended up scoring twice on a throwing error in the top of the fourth to tie the game 2-2, but back came FSC in the bottom of the inning with a double by Lanci bringing in Booker, who had earlier reached on an error.
Half an inning later, in the top of the fifth, was when Wright put Lynn on top again with one swing of the bat. With the bases full after two walks and an infield single, Wright again went over the leftfield fence for the grand slam that gave the Knights a 6-3 lead. It also gave Wright eight RBI in the doubleheader.
A leadoff home run by Alexander, the first of her career, started the Moccasin comeback in the bottom of the fifth, and Pemberton scored another during a rundown play later in the inning after drawing a walk. That got the Mocs within 6-5, and they scored two more in the sixth. That inning saw the Mocs get three straight 1-out singles from Lanci, Artidiello, and Stearns. Alexander then hit a ball up the middle that was fielded by shortstop Amanda Casillas. While Lanci scored the tying run, Casillas stepped on the bag at second for the second out of the inning, but her throw to first skipped past McEnery and allowed Artidiello to score the go-ahead run.
McEnery gave the Knights a chance in the top of the seventh with a walk, which put her on base seven times in nine plate appearances Saturday (four hits, a walk, and two HBPs). Having to face Wright with the game on the line again, Bowen was up to the task and got her to ground into a force play at second for the final out.
That also forced Olexa (4-7) to take the loss in relief for Lynn even without allowing an earned run. The Mocs had again driven Montgomery from the game early, this time in the fourth inning, and Katelyn Key pitched 2.0 innings in the middle.
Florida Southern will play a non-conference doubleheader in its next action, Tuesday at 5 p.m. against 14th-ranked Caldwell (NJ).
