10th Inning Explosion Give FSC Extra-Inning Win in Opener; Entire Lineup Blows Up Game Two as Moccasins Sweep Eckerd in Friday Doubleheader

ST. PETERSBURG, FL – After coming oh-so-close to winning the game in the seventh, eighth and ninth innings, and watching the Tritons escape each time, Florida Southern slammed the door emphatically in the 10th. Leah Pemberton's two-out RBI single broke a scoreless tie, and Alex Mace and Donna Ryan drove in three more runs after that to give the Moccasins a 4-1 win over the Tritons in the first game of their Friday night doubleheader. In the second game, Florida Southern had 17 hits, including four from Shannon Bell and three from Mace as they downed the Tritons 9-1.

HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME ONE:

• In game one, the Moccasins (6-3, 2-0 Sunshine State Conference) had a total of six hits in the seventh through ninth innings but left five runners on base before scoring four times in the top of the 10th. The inning started with a base hit by Bell from the leadoff slot and Erica Morrissey followed with a walk. After Zierra Flodman bunted both runners into scoring position, Jessica Trana lined out to third but the Moccasins kept the inning going with four consecutive 2-out singles. Pemberton had the first one with a hit through the left side of the infield to score Bell and Mace followed with an RBI single up the middle. Ryan then delivered a 2-run single that made the score 4-0.
• After being held to one hit through the first nine innings by freshman Kristen Beacham, the Tritons (7-8, 0-2) had three of them in the bottom of the 10th and scored on the last one, a one-out single by Rachael Luckett. Beacham recovered though to get a pop-up to short and a force out at second to end the game.
• Each team was held to one hit through the first four innings, a single by Bell leading off the game for Florida Southern, and an infield single by Eckerd's Crystal Garcia leading off the bottom of the third. The Moccasins had two additional runners during that time on walks but could get neither of them into scoring position.
• Eckerd was able to load the bases in the bottom of the second without a hit when Beacham issued a pair of walks and barely grazed the bill of Kiley King's helmet. Beacham left them loaded though by striking out Kaleigh Floyd to end the third inning.
• Both teams would threaten in the fifth inning, with the Moccasins getting a leadoff double from sophomore shortstop Makayla Deuberry but leaving that runner at third. In the bottom half of the inning, King was again hit by a pitch and Crystal Garcia reached on an error to give the Tritons runners at first and second before Beacham got two fly ball outs to keep the game scoreless.
• In the top of the seventh, the Mocs threatened to break the deadlock when Pemberton and Ryan both singled, but Eckerd's Nikole Van Gennep worked out of trouble by fielding a ground ball hit back to the circle by Desirae Klumpp and throwing her out at first. Beacham then pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the seventh to send the game to extra innings.
• The Moc picked up two more hits in the top of the eighth inning, the first of which was a double by Morrissey that nearly left the park. Morrissey was tagged out, however, going to third on a ground ball by Flodman, which preceded a base hit by Jessica Trana. Van Gennep again worked around it by getting a force out at second for the third out.
• In the top of the ninth the Mocs had runners at first and third with one out after singles by Mace and Ryan. Klumpp ripped a pitch toward right center that looked as if it would drive in the first run of the game. Instead it was speared by King at her second base position and turned into an inning-ending double play at first.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS OF GAME ONE:

• The first game of Friday night's doubleheader marked the fourth year in a row the Moccasins and Tritons played a game that went at least 10 innings. Prior to 2014, the two teams had never gone to extra innings against each other in 108 games. Last year they played 11-inning and 10-inning games as part of a doubleheader.
• The Moccasins and Tritons also played a scoreless game into the 12th inning in 2015 the last time Florida Southern visited St. Petersburg. The Tritons won that one 1-0.
• Both starting pitchers in game one went the distance, with Beacham allowing only four hits, striking out three and walking one to improve to 3-1. Van Gennep dropped to 4-6 for Eckerd, giving up 13 hits, striking out two and walking three. Both pitchers also threw 158 pitches.
• Donna Ryan had three of the Moccasins' 13 hits, and Crystal Garcia had two of the Tritons's four.

HOW IT HAPPENED IN GAME TWO:

• Florida Southern led 2-1 after five innings on RBI singles by Flodman in the first inning and Deuberry in the third. The Moccasins already had seven hits at that point before picking up 10 more over the final four innings.
• The Moccasins blew the game open with three runs in the sixth and four in the seventh, with Klumpp getting them started in both innings, Bell picking up hits in both innings, and Mace driving in runs in both innings.
• Klumpp's infield single and stolen base started the top of the sixth with the Mocs still leading only 2-1. She later scored their third run of the game on a wild pitch, and Mace made the Tritons pay for an earlier error and a walk with a two-out, two-run single that made the score 5-1.
• Klumpp reached again in the top of the seventh with a one-out walk and after Bell singled for her fourth hit of the game, Morrissey drove both of them in with a double to left center. Flodman then singled to put runners at the corners and an RBI single by Trana made it 8-1. Two batters later Mace delivered another run-scoring hit to make it 9-1.
• Eckerd used three hits in the bottom of the fourth to score their only run, with Kiley King's RBI single knocking in pinch-runner Kayelee Newstrom, who had entered after a leadoff double by Chelsea Armstrong.
• Brandi Jones earned the win for Florida Southern by going the distance and giving up just the one run on seven hits with nine strikeouts and one walk. She's now 1-2 on the season.
• Eckerd went through three pitchers in game two, and starter Janna Gaburo lasted only 2.1 innings. She still surrendered only one earned run (two total runs) on seven hits with no strikeouts and one walk. The Mocs then scored their remaining seven runs (five earned) on 10 hits off Grace Willeck and Madison Saltzman.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS OF GAME TWO:

• Six Moccasins had at least two hits in the nightcap, led by Bell's 4-for-5 performance at the top of the lineup, and Mace's 3-for-5 game in the sixth slot. Morrissey Flodman, Deuberry and Klumpp all had two hits (Klumpp also walked once), and Trana had one hit and two walks.
• Bell had six hits in the doubleheader and Mace had five.
• The game took two hours and 20 minutes after a late start following the 10-inning game in the opener. The doubleheader was not completed until almost 11:20 p.m.

UP NEXT:

• Florida Southern and Eckerd wrap up their series Saturday with a single game at 12:30 p.m. That game was pushed back from it's previously scheduled 11 a.m. start due to the lateness of Friday's doubleheader.