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Box Score 2 MOBILE, AL – Spring Hill junior pitcher Caroline Sagrera pitched a one-hit 7-0 shutout in game one, and though Florida Southern knocked her out in the third inning of game two, the Badgers rallied for a 7-5 win to complete the sweep of their Wednesday afternoon doubleheader.
Spring Hill (10-3) did the majority of its scoring in game one in the bottom of the third inning when shortstop Shea Blanchard followed a couple of 1-out singles from the top of the lineup with a home run over the left field fence that put the Badgers ahead, 3-0. Two more hits followed that, but junior Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.) kept it a 3-0 game by spearing a line drive at third base and applying a quick tag on Sam Leach for an inning-ending unassisted double play.
The Badgers went up 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth, using doubles by Elise deBruler and Emma Kittrell to produce that run. They added three unearned runs in the sixth, with all of those scoring on a triple by Leach, the Badger catcher who went 3-for-3 with a walk in the doubleheader's opening game.
Sagrera tossed her third shutout of the season while improving to 8-2. She struck out 10, walked one and hit a batter. Picking up the Moccasins' lone hit was senior Gianni Artidiello (Miami, Fla.) with a single up the middle in the top of the sixth inning. Artidiello also had the Florida Southern walk and stole a base in the first inning.
Sophomore Brandi Jones (Snellville, Ga.) fell to 7-4 for Florida Southern (11-11), pitching the first 5.0 innings and giving up four runs on 10 hits. She struck out two and walked one.
After being limited to one hit in the first game, Florida Southern had nine in the second game, including two apiece by senior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) and sophomore Hannah Loyer (Bradenton, Fla.) but was unable to hold a 4-0 lead.
The Moccasins jumped to a 4-0 lead with two in the first and two in the second, keyed by Artidiello and Alexander in each inning. The top two hitters in the Florida Southern batting order both reached on 2-base throwing errors at the start of the game, with Artidiello scoring on the second one. Alexander later came home on a ground out by junior Maggie Roberts (Lakeland, Fla.) to make the score 2-0.
In the top of the second, Loyer, who was also the Moccasins' starting pitcher, singled to start the inning, which eventually led to RBI singles by Artidiello and Alexander. That ended the day for Sagrera, who also started game two in the pitcher's circle for Spring Hill but gave up five hits in the first two innings after her 1-hit shutout in the opener.
The Badgers began chipping away at the 4-0 deficit in the bottom of the third, taking advantage of an error that set up an RBI triple by Carmen Byrd, and a wild pitch that allowed another run to score. Another error allowed the Badgers to score in the bottom of the fourth, pulling the Badgers within 4-3.
The Mocs manufactured a run in the top half of the fifth inning when junior Leah Pemberton (Valrico, Fla.) walked as the leadoff batter, moved up two bases on consecutive ground outs, and scored on a wild pitch. But the Badgers responded with four in the bottom of the inning to take a 7-5 lead.
Those four runs came after the Badgers loaded the bases with none out on a pair of hits and one walk. Mary Beth Glass got the first one in by grounding into a force play at third. That left runners at first and second with one out, and a single into left center by Randi DeArmitt knotted the game at 5-5. DeBruler followed with an RBI double that put the Badgers ahead and the final run scored on a ground out by Kittrell.
The Moccasins had a chance to tie or re-claim the lead in the top of the sixth, loading the bases on a walk to freshman Ashlyn Worcester (Bloomindale, Ill.) and singles by seniors Kylee Stearns (Lakeland, Fla.) and Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.). Pemberton then hit the ball hard into center, but Charnock came in for the catch to end the inning.
Relief pitcher Kimberly Small, now 2-1, earned the win for Spring Hill by going the final 5.0 innings and allowing one run on five hits with no strikeouts and two walks. That came after Sagrera had given up four runs (two earned) on four hits in the first two innings.
Loyer fell to 2-4 for Florida Southern, going the first 4.1 innings before junior Taylor Bowen (Newberry, Fla.) finished the game with 1.2 scoreless innings.
Florida Southern will continue its stretch of 12 straight road games this weekend with a 3-game Sunshine State Conference series at Barry. The series begins with a single game Friday night at 7 p.m., and concludes with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday.
