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Box Score 2 LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College softball picked up its first Sunshine State Conference victory of the 2020 season with a 7-2 win in game one. The Mocs rallied in the seventh inning but fell short as they dropped the second game, 4-3. With many alumni in attendance from the past 40 years, the current Mocs team put together a day of great softball featuring quality hitting and pitching. Southern is now 8-14 overall and 1-8 in SSC play while Tampa holds an 18-6 overall record and a 9-3 record in league play.
HOW IT HAPPENED
GAME ONE: Florida Southern 7, Tampa 2
- Southern sent junior pitcher Jenna Weldon to the circle to for game one. She would get two quick outs before giving up a double to the Spartans third batter. She would steal third but get stranded as Weldon got a fly ball to center field for the final out of the top of the first.
- With one out the bottom of the first, senior third baseman Meghan Sexton would send a ball to the wall in right-center field as sophomore Jadin Dewith would score all the way from first. Sexton would get thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.
- Weldon opened the second inning with a strikeout and then put two runners on via a hit by pitch and a walk. The two Tampa base runners would pull off a double steal to put two runners in scoring position. The Spartans number eight hitter would hit into a fielder's choice that saw the Moccasins get the lead runner out at home. On the next batter, the Spartans would clear the bases as the high fly ball got lost in the sun as the ball got away from the Mocs right fielder. Tampa would take a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the second.
- Southern would send nine batters to the plate as sophomore Celia Higgins and freshman Kelsey Peck both reach on back-to-back base hits to left field. With one out, senior Alex Mace would send a ball through the left side of the infield to load the bases. As the hit brigade continued, freshman Jessica Bryson singled to right-center to drive in Higgins to tie the game at 2-2. Tampa would get the second out of the inning as they forced Peck out at home. Sexton would single up the middle to drive in two more runs for the Mocs and junior Kensie Green would drive in Dewith for the fourth Moccasin run of the inning. Southern would take a 5-2 lead into the third inning.
- Weldon put together a quality shutdown inning for the Mocs as she worked around a two-out single to a zero on the board. Just as they did to lead off the bottom of the second, Higgins and Peck hit back-to-back singles to give the Mocs two early base runners. With one out, Mace would send a base hit to right-center to drive in Higgins to give the Mocs a 6-2 lead.
- Weldon did her part in the victory too as she stranded four Spartan base runners over the final four innings of the game. The Mocs tack on a seventh run in the bottom of the fifth inning en route to their first Sunshine State Conference victory of 2020.
GAME TWO: Tampa 4, Florida Southern 3
- The Spartans leadoff hitter in game two sent a rocket shot to right-center for a leadoff triple. With one out the Spartans pitcher would hit a double to drive in the runner from third.
- Bryson led off the bottom of the first with a double and Sexton would draw a one-out walk to give the Mocs a pair of runners. That would be short-lived as the next two batters flew out to end the first inning.
- Tampa would add on a run in the second inning off a two-out single to take a 2-0 lead.
- Weldon would come into the game in the top of the third and get the final two outs. Sophomore catcher Beka Schulte would cut down the runner trying to steal second to end the top of the fourth.
- Sexton led off the bottom of the fourth inning with a single through the left side and would advance to second on the sacrifice bunt by Green. Sophomore Maddi Conner would trade places with Sexton at third to cut the Spartans lead to one.
- The visitors would get the run back in the top of the fifth inning as the Tampa catcher laced a single down the left-field line to drive in the runner from second.
- Southern would load the bases with two outs and Green would drive in the second Moccasin run to make it 3-2 Tampa.
- The Spartans would add on the eventual game-winning run in the top of the seventh.
- Bryson led off the bottom of the seventh with an infield single to third base. The next two batters would line out and pop out to the shortstop. Coming up to bat would be Green and for the second time in three innings, she would drive in another run for the Mocs. One run would be all they would get as sophomore Jessica Smith would get stranded at second after coming in to pinch-run for Green.
UP NEXT
The Mocs are amidst a 14-game homestand at Chris Bellotto Field as they will play 17 of their 20 games in March at home. The Mocs will host Minnesota-Duluth for a March 11 doubleheader with the first pitch set for 5 p.m.
