LAKELAND, Fla. - The Florida Southern College softball team dropped their Sunshine State Conference series to #18 Saint Leo University on Saturday afternoon. The Moccasins fell in the doubleheader 1-0 in eight innings in game one and 13-1 in five innings in game two against the Lions.
FSC sits at 16-17 on the season and 5-10 in the SSC, while Saint Leo moves to 31-5 overall and 13-2 in the conference.
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 0, SAINT LEO 1
The Mocs opened up game one of the doubleheader with the first hit of the game with a single up the middle from junior
Skyler Ralstin in the bottom of the first. Ralsin was stranded at first, but it was a long game with no runs until the top of the eighth.
Saint Leo scored on a walk with the bases loaded that sealed the fate for Florida Southern in game one.
Ralstin led the way in game one going 2-for-3 with a double, while graduate student
Maddi Conner went 1-for-3.
In the circle, sophomore
Kayla Hickey pitched seven innings allowing the only run while striking out one batter on six hits.
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 1, SAINT LEO 13
Game two between the Mocs and Lions started off the opposite of game one as Saint Leo scored in the first inning, taking an early 1-0 lead.
The Lions increased their lead to 4-0 in the top of the third off three hits and three errors to put pressure on the Mocs defense. In the following inning, Saint Leo added five more runs to give FSC a 9-0 deficit to come back from.
Junior
Taylor Thomas singled to left field for the first hit of the game for Florida Southern in the bottom of the fourth, but it came after two outs to strand the third baseman at first base.
In the top of the fifth, the Lions opened up with three hits on no-outs that allowed Saint Leo to increase its lead to 13-0 after five innings. In the bottom of the fifth, FSC tried to rally back, scoring pinch hitter
Macayla Brady who singled to the shortstop to try and get a run going. The hot bats of the Lions sealed the fate of FSC as the Mocs fell in the series finale, 13-1.
Kiki Morris and Thomas both went 1-for-2 from the plate, while Brady went 1-for-1 with one run scored.
UP NEXT
Florida Southern hits the road next weekend for another SSC series against Palm Beach Atlantic in West Palm Beach, Fla. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. on Friday, March 31.
