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Box Score 2 LAKELAND – The pitching of Taylor Bowen and Brandi Jones was brilliant Saturday for Florida Southern in its final two games of the season, but Saint Leo countered with a brilliant pitching combo of its own. With Samantha Tyler and Ashley Ehlers each tossing complete game shutouts for the Lions, and catcher Tori Thomas driving in runs in both of them, Saint Leo closed out the regular season with 3-0 and 4-0 wins over the Moccasins.
Ranked #2 in the country in team ERA coming into the 3-game weekend series, Saint Leo (39-12, 15-9 Sunshine State Conference) dropped it even lower on Saturday while extending its winning streak to 11 games and its shutout streak to a school-record seven in a row. Tyler (9-2) was in danger in almost every inning, giving up eight hits and two walks, hitting one batter, with two errors thrown into the mix too, but she worked out of it every time, largely with a career-high 11 strikeouts. Ehlers (14-5) took the ball in game two and gave up just three hits with no walks and seven strikeouts.
Florida Southern (19-32, 5-19) had Bowen in the circle for game one and the junior from Newberry handcuffed the Lions all day, giving up only one earned run on six hits with one strikeout and one walk. Two of those hits were bunt singles and another was a bloop double that barely cleared the infield dirt before kicking into foul territory. The Lions ended up with eight hits in game two against Jones, but only two of their four runs were earned, both of them coming on a home run by Thomas in the second inning that put them ahead. After a rough start, the sophomore from Snellville, Georgia did not allow any hits over the final 3.2 innings she pitched while retiring 10 of the last 11 batters. She matched Bowen with one strikeout and one walk.
The only earned run against Bowen in Saturday's first game was scored in the top of the first inning after Saint Leo leadoff batter McKenzie Burns slapped a pitch into short left field that spun into foul territory and allowed her to coast into second with a double. After taking third on a ground out, Burns scored on a base hit by Adriana Sanders.
For the next five innings, Bowen held the Lions hitless, working around a leadoff walk to Thomas in the third and two errors in the fourth. It was another error that allowed Michelle George to reach second base leading off the top of the seventh and Brittany Creamer followed with an RBI double. Pinch-runner Rachael Heath was then caught stealing, but an error on that play allowed her to remain at third, and Thomas hit another RBI double for the Lions to make the score 3-0.
Bunt singles by Burns and Tiffany Thompson loaded the bases for the Lions with one out, but Bowen kept it that way by inducing a pair of ground balls, one of them resulting in a force out at the plate.
That left the door open for Florida Southern, which got two infield hits of its own in the bottom of the seventh from junior Jordan Alexander (Valrico, Fla.) and senior Kim Booker (Bartow, Fla.). Tyler survived once more though for the shutout, with the Moccasins leaving two more runners on base. They stranded a total of 11 in the game and had the fourth inning end when Thomas picked a runner off third base.
Alexander and senior Gianni Artidiello (Miami, Fla.) each had two of Florida Southern's eight hits in the game, while senior Jessica Lanci (Orlando, Fla.) had a pair of walks.
In Saturday's second game, Saint Leo went ahead 2-0 on Thomas' 2-run homer to left in the top of the second inning, and the Lions scored two more on a 2-out error in the fourth. Those runs came from Torrie Weindorf, who had reached on a double, and Burns, who had singled and swiped second. That hit by Burns gave the senior outfielder three in the game and five in the doubleheader.
The Moccasins were held without a hit by Ehlers until Artidiello singled to shortstop to start the bottom of the fourth. They ended up with runners at second and third after a single by senior Priscilla Gonzalez (Miami, Fla.) before Ehlers got a strikeout and ground out to end the inning. The Mocs' final hit came from Alexander with two out in the sixth as Ehlers ended the game by striking out the side in the bottom of the seventh.
It was also the final games for five Florida Southern seniors, Artidiello, Booker, Gonzalez, Lanci and Kylee Stearns (Lakeland, Fla.), who all reached base at least twice in the doubleheader to end their careers.
