General Mar 24, 2023

Mocs Minutes: Another Busy Weekend for the Mocs

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Opponents: State College of Florida, Eckerd & Palm Beach Atlantic
Dates | Times: March 24, 2023 | 3:00 PM / March 25, 2023 | 1:00 PM & 2:30 PM
Locations: Bradenton, Fla. | UMR Sports Complex / Gulfport, Fla.
Records: Florida Southern 5-10 | State College of Florida 1-10 | Eckerd 2-7 | Palm Beach Atlantic 9-11
Florida Southern hits the road to face State College of Florida on Friday before competing in a tri-match against Eckerd and Palm Beach Atlantic. This will be the second meeting between the Tritons and Manatees, while the Mocs and Sailfish will meet for the third time this season. The Mocs defeated the State College of Florida to earn its first win of the season defeating the Manatees 4-1. Eckerd took the win in straight sets in the last meeting while PBA won 5-0 in the beginning of the season and 4-1 a week and half ago.
The Moccasins split this past weekend against Stevenson and St. Johns River Community College fell in the opener against the Mustangs 3-2, before defeating the Vikings 3-2. Both the No.3 pairing of Sarah Crocker and Ashli Mckenny and No. 4 pairing of Hayley St. Martin and Christina Ramazio went undefeated on the weekend.
State College of Florida is currently on a one game losing streak and has only seen a single win thus far coming recently against Jacksonville State University with a 3-2 win. The last loss for the Manatees was against Saint Leo falling in straight pairs.
Eckerd is currently on a six game losing streak barely missing the snap of the streak against Stevenson falling 3-2 before falling in straight pairs against Saint Leo in the tri-match. The Tritons last two wins were the No. 2 pairings (Dana Dull and Joelle Coulter) and then the No. 3 pairings of Anna Jupin and Addie White battling it out to win in three sets.
Palm Beach Atlantic is on a two game losing streak falling to division one opponents Jacksonville and Florida Gulf Coast 4-1 in both matches. The one win against the Dolphins came in the No. 3 pairing as Gabriella Aziz and Savannah DeCarlo won in straight sets 21-17, 21-13. Against the Eagles the No. 5 pairing took the lone win as Karla Cantero and Abigail Mason won in straight sets 24-22 and 21-17.
HISTORY: This is going to be the fourth meeting against State College of Florida as FSC has won every meeting. While it's the 11th meeting against the Tritons they hold six wins, and the Mocs are still looking for their first of eight wins against the Sailfish.

Opponent: #18 Saint Leo
Dates | Times: March 24, 2023 | 6:00 PM / March 25, 2023 | 1:00 PM & 3:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Chris Bellotto Field
Records: Florida Southern 16-14, 5-7 SSC | #18 Saint Leo 28-5, 10-2 SSC
Florida Southern has a quick turnaround after sweeping the Wolves of University of West Georgia first in run-rule fashion with a 10-2 decision in five innings and then in walk-off fashion from a Skyler Ralstin RBI single to score Kelsey Peck to finish with a 6-5 win. After the wins the Moccasins are on a two game win streak and look ahead to the national ranked Saint Leo University Lions for a win.
As a team FSC remained seventh in the conference overall and sixth in batting averaging a .294 as a team from the plate. In conference play only Ralstin is sitting fifth with a .417 batting average with 15 hits, one double, and five RBIs.
Junior Taylor Thomas continues to lead the way supporting a .407 batting average overall. Ralstin improved to .405 average after a perfect day from the plate going 7-for-7. Junior Kiki Morris with a .338 and senior Peck is batting a .319. Thomas has 37 hits on the season with 10 doubles, one homer, and 23 RBIs. Ralstin is 32-for-79 from the plate with 16 runs, four doubles and 15 runners batted in. Peck has five doubles on the season and Morris with five Morris has 22 hits and 10 RBIs, and Peck is leading the Mocs with six homers, in 29 hits and 17 runners brought in. In the circle for the Mocs, Mel Rogers is leading the way with a 2.98 ERA followed by Ashley Blessin with a 3.87 ERA starting in 14 games with 10 complete games striking out 43 batters. Rogers is 6-2 on the season with 13 appearances, six complete games and 35 batters sent back to the dugout with strikeouts.
No. 18 Saint Leo is having a successful season with just five losses but the last two coming in recent games as the Lions split the series against #10 Valdosta State and fell in the final game in the 3-game series against SSC foe Embry-Riddle. The Lions have just two losses in the SSC most recently against Embry-Riddle falling 2-0 and earlier in the season against Florida Tech 4-2.
Briana Neal is leading the Lions with a .413 batting average going 38-for-92 from the plate. Neal is the only one with a homer with two, she also has brought in 22 runners, with one triple, seven doubles, and 24 runs. Behind Neal is Alexandra Hare supporting a .373 average also with 22 RBIs, two triples, six doubles, and 41 hits. Saint Leo's pitching is on top of the SSC with two pitchers owning low ERAs as Kayla Betts has a .50 ERA and Haleigh Thomas with a .075. Betts has 153 strikeouts and owns a 9-2 record.
HISTORY: This will be the 133rd meeting between the Mocs and Lions with FSC having an 87-46 advantage over Saint Leo as FSC is on a four game losing streak and looking to switch their fate.

Opponent: Saint Leo
Dates | Times: March 24, 2023 | 6:00 PM / March 25, 2023 | 1:00 PM / March 26, 2023 | 1:00 PM
Location: Saint Leo, Fla. | Thomas B. Southard Stadium
Records: Florida Southern 16-8, 3-3 SSC | Saint Leo 14-10, 5-4 SSC
Florida Southern will travel to Saint Leo with conference wins on the line after losing three straight to No. 2 Tampa last weekend. Despite the series loss, FSC took game one into extras in a close 5-4 loss. Game two was lost 11-8 as the Mocs were unable to catch up on a high-scoring Tampa team and game three was a heartbreaker with a tie game into the top of the ninth preceded by seven runs by the Spartans, which the Mocs were unable to answer. Florida Southern has lost the last four games but holds an impressive road record with a goal to continue in conference play.
The Mocs dipped some in overall batting average to a .316 average as Drew Cavanaugh and Bryce Safferwich continue to light it up, each batting over .400. Cavanaugh has a team-high nine home runs, tied for first in the SSC, and a .414 average in 19 starts behind the plate. He leads the conference in slugging (.857), on-base (.548), and OPS (1.405) in a great run for the Mocs this season. Connor Berry had three homers last week, including consecutive at-bat homers in game two of the Tampa series. As a team, the Mocs lead the conference with 45 home runs.
On the mound, Florida Southern has a team 5.49 ERA as Nathan Madej has a 3.60 ERA among starters. Madej leads the conference and is one of the best in the nation in strikeouts, with 57 through his seven appearances. Madej also has a team-high four wins. Opposing batters have a .275 batting average and the Mocs have frequently excelled with relievers Andrew Williamson, Justin Wit, and Collin Camarigg with a great run. Williamson has a 1.35 ERA in his 11 appearances and only has two earned runs, both allowed early in the season, and has allowed no hits or runs since Eckerd last month.
Saint Leo will host Florida Southern on a four-game win streak, including a conference series sweep of Embry-Riddle. The Lions outscored the Eagles 38-2 over the three-game stretch in a big series on the road. Game one of the Friday doubleheader was a 12-1 win by the Lions with 14 hits and only allowing two to the Eagles. Game two had three homers by Saint Leo and another 14 hits for a shutout of Embry-Riddle. Game three was another 12-1 SLU victory with 16 hits and only one as an extra-base hit.
As a team, the Lions are batting .310 with several above .300. Leading the team, and conference, is Zach Benson with a .478 batting average and Yazael Nunez a .317 batter with a team-high 20 RBI. SLU is second in the conference with 59 total stolen bases on 71 attempts. On the mound, Saint Leo has a 4.46 ERA for third-best in the SSC and an opposing batting average of .262. Primary starters for the Lions are Dariel Fregio and Evan Wolf and a variety of pitchers for the third starter. Fregio leads with a 2.84 ERA among starters and a team-high four wins. He also leads with 34 strikeouts. Wolf has six starts and a 4.04 ERA and three wins.
HISTORY: The Mocs have a 138-56-1 overall record against the Lions in a history dating back to 1967. Last season, the Mocs won the conference series 2-1 before a non-conference matchup loss in March of 2022. Florida Southern is 4-6 in the last 10 matchups with a 7.1 average run scored.

Meet: UCK Knights Invite
Dates: March 24-25, 2023
Location: Orlando, Fla. | UCF Soccer and Track Complex
The Florida Southern men's and women's track teams head east to Orlando to compete in the UCF Knights. The Mocs will spend both Friday and Saturday competing at the event which will feature several strong teams from throughout the Southeast.
The Florida Southern men will compete in three events on Friday before concluding the weekend with a pair of events on Saturday. A contingent of 17 Moccasins will make the trip. FSC will see action in the 1500m, 3000m steeplechase and 5000m on Friday before facing the 800m and 3000m on Saturday. Senior Alex Guy and freshman Anthony Matthew are the only two Mocs competing on both days as they will each see action in the 1500m and 800m.
The Florida Southern women will compete in the same five events as the men over the two days including the 1500m, 3000m SC and 5000m on Friday and the 800m and 3000m on Saturday. A total of 14 Moccasins will head to Orlando for the event with just freshman Caitlin Beery and junior Jinia Johnson seeing action on both days. Beery will compete in the 1500m and 800m while Johnson will see action in the 5000m and 800m.

Opponent: #24 Colorado Mesa
Date | Time: March 25, 2023 | 12:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Berend Field
Records: #6 Florida Southern 8-1, 0-0 SSC | #24 Colorado Mesa 3-3, 2-0 RMAC
No. 6 Florida Southern looks to bounce back after dropping its first game of the year 17-16 in overtime to then-no. 21 Bentley. In the setback, Giana Murphy paced the Mocs with six points, on five goals and one assist. Both Jackie Stoller and Lizzy Lynch each had four points with two assists and two goals apiece. Gina Verrone and Abby McFerren led the team on draw controls with eight and five respectively.
As a team, FSC averaged 16.78 goals per game while holding opponents to 11.78. Stoller is the team leader in points with 23 goals, second best on the team, and leads the team with 17 assists. Hailey Daleo is the team leader with 25 goals through nine games, adding five assists for a second best 30 points on the team.
Rylie Rittberg stands at 6-1 in goal and has played 362:22 minutes of the teams' 546:00 minutes in goal with 41 saves in nine games. Sydney O'Neill is the only other Moc available and made five saves in 51:22 minutes of action.
No. 24 Colorado Mesa will close its trip to Florida after falling 13-7 to No. 19 Saint Leo on March 21 and 13-9 to No. 8 Rollins. In the recent game against the Tars, five players scored in the game led by Carson Dickey with three goals. Dickey finished the game with four points after tallying an assist. In goal, Shannon Murphy played the full 60 minutes with 16 saves.
As a team, the Mavs average 13.33 goals per game and allow just 9.67. Kiley Davis is the team leader in points (27) and goals (23). Justine Anderson is the only other Maverick to score double-digits on the season through six games.
Shannon Murphy has played all six games and is 3-3 in goal with 360 minutes of action. She has 52 saves for a .473 save percentage with a 9.67 goals against average.
HISTORY: Florida Southern is 2-0 all-time against Colorado Mesa where the Mocs won the last meeting, 20-8, a year ago on March 20, 2022 in Lakeland. The Moccasins average 21 goals a game and holds the Mavericks to just 8.5. In the win a year ago, Hailey Daleo scored five goals and dished out four assists for a game-high nine points. Madison Tare (3), Abby McFerren (2), Lizzy Lynch (2), Ellie Griffin (2), and Emma Dudley (1) all scored in the last meeting and return to the pitch for the Mocs Saturday.

Opponent: Palm Beach Atlantic
Date | Time: March 25, 2023 | 2:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Wynee Warden Tennis Center
Records: #18 Florida Southern 11-3, 2-3 SSC | Palm Beach Atlantic 5-10, 1-4 SSC
No. 18 Florida Southern won 11 straight matches before a 6-1 loss to now No. 2 Nova Southeastern on Saturday. Olivia Bryant was the only Moccasin court to win, after three sets against the Sharks for a flight win. Before the matchup against NSU, FSC beat No. 36 Nebraska-Kearney 4-3 on Friday. Mocs won the doubles point and battled with wins by Isabella Bolivar, Kennedi Brown, and Laia Pasini for the match win.
Mocs moved up to 18th in the ITA Division II Poll and Bryant returned to individual rankings with 50th among Division II singles players. Bryant has had an incredible season thus far, going 9-1 in the last ten matches, including a win over No. 33 Karolina Snita at the #3 court on Saturday against the Sharks. Bryant leads the team with 12 wins in the spring season across three different court positions. The doubles pairing of Maxima Ellenberg and Laura Vetter continues to be in the top 30 of national doubles rankings, now 27th among Division II talent. The pairing has an 8-3 overall record together, each at the No. 1 position.
Palm Beach Atlantic will travel to Lakeland to take on the Mocs after a 4-0 loss against No. 12 Flagler on Tuesday. PBA has lost each of its previous ranked matchups, with a win against Eckerd on Monday the most recent victory. Against the Tritons, the Sailfish swept the doubles point and handled all but one of the singles courts in two sets. Many of the courts finished with a 6-0 or 6-1 score before Hoermann lost her first set and rallied for the next two set wins for the flight win.
HISTORY: The Mocs hold an 18-3 overall record against the Sailfish, winning the last six matchups. Last year, FSC won 4-3 in West Palm Beach. Florida Southern is 10-0 at home against Palm Beach Atlantic.

Opponent: Palm Beach Atlantic & #5 West Alabama
Dates | Times: March 25, 2023 | 2:00 PM / March 27, 2023 | 2:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Wynee Warden Tennis Center
Records: #24 Florida Southern 12-4, 1-3 SSC | Palm Beach Atlantic 1-11, 1-3 SSC | #5 West Alabama 10-4, 0-0 GSC
No. 24 Florida Southern had its nine-match win streak snapped with a 5-2 loss to Washburn last time out. After dropping the doubles point, the Mocs faced tough competition with two of the courts against nationally ranked singles. However, No. 58 Hammes from Washburn was not enough for Chris Fok Kow, who earned his second singles win over a nationally ranked opponent in a three-set thriller. John Gidefjord was the other point the Mocs scored against the Ichabods.
Florida Southern dropped to 24th overall in team rankings in the latest ITA poll and faces No. 5 West Alabama and No. 1 Saint Leo in the coming week. The doubles crew of Fok Kow and Matteo Feggi remain in the top 20, now 18th among Division II doubles pairings.
Palm Beach Atlantic has struggled this 2023 spring season, having lost 11 matches before its first win of the season in a 6-1 score over Eckerd on Monday. The Sailfish lost the doubles point but rallied to sweep the singles competition, including three courts going to a third-set tiebreak. PBA is led by Luis Eduardo Platas, Marko Visontai, and Blake Williams, each with four wins in the season for singles. Platas and Juanfer Contreras have a 6-2 overall doubles record.
No. 5 West Alabama will travel to Lakeland in a Florida trip where they take on Lynn, Keiser, Barry, and Florida Southern over the next week. The top-five program has a three-match win streak, the most recent being a 5-2 win against Lee on Saturday. UWA will also take on Auburn Montgomery before the trip to Florida. The Tigers have two doubles pairings in the national rankings, as Lucas Hammond/Marcel Hornung is fifth overall and Illia Dejodiuk/Illari Vesanen is 40th.
HISTORY: The Mocs and Sailfish have faced each other on 17 occasions, with FSC a 14-3 overall record leader. Last season, the Mocs won 5-2 in West Palm Beach and have won the last three matches in a row. Against West Alabama, Florida Southern has a 3-4 overall record, having lost the last matchup 6-1 in a 2019 neutral-site match in Pensacola.

Opponent: Westminster
Date | Times: March 26, 2023 | 12:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Berend Field
Records: #16 Florida Southern 7-2, 1-0 SSC | Westminster 3-4, 1-0 RMAC
No. 16 Florida Southern closes out the non-conference portion of its 2023 schedule as Westminster out of Salt Lake City, Utah visits Berend Field Sunday afternoon.
Senior Sean Nolan is on the verge of breaking yet another career record at Florida Southern as he needs just four more goals to tie career leader Dane Sorensen's (2012-15) career mark of 175 goals.
Freshman Nolan Tighe had a breakout performance on the road at Lynn this past Thursday as he scored a career-best seven goals in the victory while handing out an assist. He becomes the first Moccasin to score seven or more goals in a single game since Sean Nolan scored eight in the victory at Saint Leo last season. The seven tallies moved Tighe to 23 goals for the season which ranks third on the squad.
As a team, the Moccasins rank high in several statistical categories within NCAA Division II. FSC leads the country in caused turnovers per contest (15.56), ground balls per contest (46.89), total points (296), points per contest (32.89) and scoring offense (21.11). The Mocs also rank second in the nation in total assists (106), assists per game (11.78), total ground balls (422) and scoring margin (+12.22) while ranking inside the top ten in man-up offense (5th, 0.513), shot percentage (6th, 0.360), opponent clear percentage (7th, 0.732), and clearing percentage (8th, 0.899). Senior Nick Shannon leads both the NCAA and SSC in caused turnovers per contest (3.00) while senior Sean Nolan and freshman Jacob Czyz rank 11th in the country in points per game (5.44) and ground balls per game (7.56), respectively.
Nolan leads the offensive attack for the Mocs as he leads the Sunshine State Conference in both assists per game (2.00) and points per game (5.44) while ranking second in goals per contest (3.44). Sophomore Matt Flammenspeck is second on the team in scoring with 27 goals so far in 2023 while ranking fourth in the SSC in goals per game (3.00). Four others have produced double-digit tallies this season including freshman Nolan Tighe (23), graduate student Jay Minor (15), junior Brendan Glasser (15) and graduate student Andrew Medeiros (12). Nolan leads the team with 18 assists while Medeiros sits in second with 15 assists this season followed closely by Minor with 14. At the face off, it has been Czyz handling most of duties as he has gone 121-of-221 (.548) while fellow freshman Luke Henricksen has won 34-of-63 this season (.540). Czyz also leads the team in ground balls this season with 68 (7.6 per contest).
Defensively, senior Nick Shannon has caused a team-best 27 turnovers this season while scooping up 33 ground balls to rank second on the squad. Graduate student Craig Connor ranks second on the team with 14 caused turnovers while senior Zac Fitzgerald ranks third with 12. Five goalkeepers have seen action for the Mocs this season with junior Michael Simone seeing the majority of the action. Simone has started the last five contests and has a perfect 5-0 record with a 6.54 goals against average in 247-plus minutes of action. He has 40 saves and has seen action in eight of the nine contests this season.
Westminster has dropped two-straight to a pair of nationally-ranked Sunshine State Conference programs. The Griffins fell at home to Rollins 21-11 in Salt Lake City on March 13 before traveling to Tampa to face the Spartans on March 23, falling 11-10 in a closely contested contest. The Mocs and Griffins have faced one similar opponent in Lynn. The Griffins defeated Lynn 14-10 in Utah while the Mocs defeated the Fighting Knights 22-6 in Boca Raton.
Senior Merritt McMahon leads the offensive attack for Westminster with 20 goals in just six games this season. He is followed closely by freshman Luke Sillstrop who has 15 scores this season in seven games of action. In total, just three Griffins have achieved double-digit goals this season. Seniors Skyler Weathers and Mike Spaeth have each dished out a team-high 10 assists this season with classmate Andrew Thomas sitting in third with eight helpers. Junior Hagan Buchanan has been handling the face offs this season and is 82-of-150 (.547) in 2023 while four others have limited numbers. Buchana also leads the team with 41 ground balls.
Senior Carson Capps leads the defense with seven caused turnovers this season followed by junior Timothy McGuire who has six. The Griffins have used three different goalkeepers in 2023 led by junior Jacob Miller who has seen 377-plus minutes of action and has a 3-4 record with an 11.77 goals against average with 82 saves.
HISTORY: Sunday's contest will mark the second meeting between the Griffins and Moccasins on the lacrosse field with FSC holding a 1-0 lead in the series. The Mocs won the inaugural meeting between the two programs in 2019, 14-13, in Lakeland. Sean Nolan led the Mocs in the victory with three goals.

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Players Mentioned

Matteo Feggi: 6' 4"; Sophomore

Chris Fok Kow: 6' 1"; Junior

John Gidefjord: 6' 3"; Freshman

#7 Kiki Morris: OF/P; 5' 4"; Junior

#4 Kelsey Peck: SS; 5' 9"; Senior

#1 Skyler Ralstin: OF; 5' 8"; Junior

#18 Mel Rogers: P; 5' 6"; Senior

#18 Sarah Crocker: 5' 10"; Junior

#4 Hayley St. Martin: 5' 10"; Sophomore

#13 Ashli McKenny: 5' 7"; Freshman

Players Mentioned

Matteo Feggi
: 6' 4"; Sophomore

Chris Fok Kow
: 6' 1"; Junior

John Gidefjord
: 6' 3"; Freshman

#7 Kiki Morris
: 5' 4"; Junior
: OF/P

#4 Kelsey Peck
: 5' 9"; Senior
: SS

#1 Skyler Ralstin
: 5' 8"; Junior
: OF

#18 Mel Rogers
: 5' 6"; Senior
: P

#18 Sarah Crocker
: 5' 10"; Junior

#4 Hayley St. Martin
: 5' 10"; Sophomore

#13 Ashli McKenny
: 5' 7"; Freshman

Florida Southern College

Scoreboard

Mocs Minutes: Another Busy Weekend for the Mocs

Players Mentioned

Matteo Feggi

Chris Fok Kow

John Gidefjord

#7 Kiki Morris

#4 Kelsey Peck

#1 Skyler Ralstin

#18 Mel Rogers

#18 Sarah Crocker

#4 Hayley St. Martin

#13 Ashli McKenny

Players Mentioned

Matteo Feggi

Chris Fok Kow

John Gidefjord

#7 Kiki Morris

#4 Kelsey Peck

#1 Skyler Ralstin

#18 Mel Rogers

#18 Sarah Crocker

#4 Hayley St. Martin

#13 Ashli McKenny

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