General Mar 06, 2023

Mocs Minutes: Spring Break Heats Up with Midweek Action

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Opponent: Kentucky Wesleyan
Dates | Times: March 6-7, 2023 | 6:00 PM / 6:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Henley Field
Records: Florida Southern 11-4, 3-0 SSC | Kentucky Wesleyan 4-6, 0-0 G-MAC
Florida Southern will continue its homestead with a two-game series against Kentucky Wesleyan at Henley Field this Monday and Tuesday. The Mocs have a nine-game win streak after big wins last week against Florida Tech and Assumption. Mocs beat the Panthers 17-7 on Tuesday and the win over the Greyhounds was a 13-3 score. FSC gave up three runs in the top of the first for a 3-0 deficit early but shut out the Greyhounds the rest of the game while racking up runs themselves. FSC had three homers in the game and a combined 19 strikeouts, tying a school record last reached in 2017.
The Mocs' dominance at the plate continued last week as FSC improved to a .317 batting average as a team. Bryce Safferwich continues to dominate in his tarts in the outfield with a .439 average and team-high 25 hits. Connor Berry has a .362 average, Jeff Liquori .314, Roshean Riley .311, and Mitch Donofrio .304 from the plate. While catching, Drew Cavanaugh has an astonishing .395 batting average and ties Donofrio with five homers this season. The combined 26 moon shots lead the conference, and Mocs are third in the conference in overall batting.
From the mound, Florida Southern is led by ace Nathan Madej, who had 12 strikeouts in the game against Assumption. He has a league-high 44 strikeouts this season and a 2.57 ERA. Aric McAtee leads starters with a 2.14 ERA and a 2-2 record in his four appearances. Combined, Mocs are 4.37 ERA and 147 strikeouts, compared to 109 from their opponents.
Kentucky Wesleyan will head to Lakeland with a series sweep of Fairmont State last week. The Panthers lost their first five games of the season but have since won four of their last five games. Against Fairmont State, Ky. Wesleyan had three homers, including two by Bryce Zupan in a 7-3 game one of two on a Saturday doubleheader. The Panthers won game two 4-2 over the Fighting Falcons and followed up with a 12-2 rout of Fairmont State on Sunday with another three homers. Over the course of the three-game series, Panthers hit eight over the fence.
Despite the early losses, KWC has improved the last few weeks with a .243 batting average and a combined 13 home runs, compared to five from their opponents. Zach Curtis leads the team with five from deep and a .405 average. Aric Lyons leads the team with a .419 batting average and Justin Lauersdorf the other Panther above .300. From the mound, the Panthers are led by Evan Oakley with a 1.98 ERA in two starts and three appearances. He threw one complete game and has a team-high 19 strikeouts. The team has a combined 5.89 ERA and opponents have a .267 batting average.
History: In their history, Mocs are 7-3 overall against the Panthers, the last being an 8-2 win last season and a 13-4 win the day before in a two-game series in the 2022 season. Average runs for the Mocs are 7.3 in a battle with win streaks on the line for both teams.

Opponents: Michigan Tech & Northwood
Dates | Times: March 7, 2023 | 12:00 PM / March 8, 2023 | 10:00 AM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Wynee Warden Tennis Center
Records: Florida Southern 6-3, 1-3 SSC | Michigan Tech 0-4, 0-0 GLIAC | Northwood 0-6, 0-0 G-MAC
Florida Southern will host Michigan Tech with a three-match win streak riding. Mocs began their streak with a 4-3 upset over No. 4 Flagler and followed with a 6-1 win on the road in a neutral site matchup against Davenport in Orlando. Mocs won 6-1 over Findlay on Thursday. Against the Oilers, the Mocs once again won the doubles point and won nearly all of the singles courts, minus the #2 court with Inaki Braun Simo a tough two-set loss. Elsewhere, Mocs dominated singles with two-set wins on all of the courts. Most notable is an undefeated week for Mario Garoz and Chris Fok Kow. Fok Kow continues to shine on the #1 court in singles and Garoz has a seven-match win streak in singles.
Michigan Tech will take on the Mocs in a trip to Florida where they will take on Augustana, West Liberty, and Lynn in addition to the Mocs. The Huskies had their last few matches postponed with an 0-4 start to the 2023 season after losses to Tiffin, Lewis, Findlay, and Hillsdale. The Huskies with take on Augustana this afternoon before the match against the Mocs. Singles flight wins on the Huskies have come from Adam Fenjiro, Eli Pinnoo, and Nikolai Prosjanykov.
Northwood has yet to win this 2023 season with losses against tough competition and only win three points all season. Last time out, the Timberwolves faced No. 1 Barry in a 7-0 loss. Before the match against the Mocs, Northwood will face No. 4 Flagler this afternoon before Wednesday's matchup. Flight wins have come from Eduardo Cabral, David Sedlar, and Max Wild this season in singles.
HISTORY: Mocs have faced the Huskies three times in its history, the last a 9-0 win by FSC in March 2008. The previous two matches were shutouts as well with a 6-0 win in 2004 and 9-0 in 1999. Against the Timberwolves, Mocs have a 16-8 advantage, the last a 4-1 win against Northwood last March. In their last 10 matchups, Mocs have won six of the matches.

Opponents: Saint Leo & Eckerd
Date | Times: March 8, 2023 | 10:00 AM & 2:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Judy and Joe P. Ruthven Beach Volleyball Courts
Records: Florida Southern 1-4 | Saint Leo 5-4 | Eckerd 1-0
Florida Southern is coming off its first win under first year head coach Makena Wilson '20.
In the #1 seed was Olivia D'Agostino and Emma Shaddix, a new duo that battled it out together but fell in three sets (21-10, 21-18, 15-13). The rest of the Moccasins defeated State College of Florida in two sets: Sarah Crocker and Ashli Mckenny won in the #2 seed 21-12, 21-16 and in the #3 seed Destiny Ramsey and Sophia Rakauskas had a big win with a 21-6, 21-11 decision. In the remainder of the ladder was Hayley St. Martin and Christina Ramazio in the four spot coming away with a 21-8, 21-11 win and closing out the day was the fifth seed in Chloe Maxwell and Madeline Sanders winning 21-77, 21-7.
Saint Leo and FSC will look at a rematch after the Lions took all five sets from the Mocs in the season opener on February 17. Since meeting between the two teams, the Lions have received three more losses coming from Southern Mississippi and Florida Atlantic in straight sets at the FAU tournament before rallying against Texas A&M - Corpus Christi for a 3-2 loss, to close out the FAU tournament last weekend the Saint Leo got a rematch win against Palm Beach Atlantic with a 4-1 decision.
Eckerd has only opened up its 2023 season this past Wednesday winning in straight sets with a 5-0 decision against Webber International to start the season 1-0. In the No. 1 draw, Agata Sklepik and Kitana Lim had a pair of narrow-margin victories, 22-20, 21-18, over Webber's Cindy Garcia and Montana Pelak. Dana Dull and Anna Jupin bounced back after a 1-0 set deficit to defeat Lily Arnold and Bailey Sikkema 21-13, 15-2 in the No. 2 slot. Sophia Romigh and Jessi Megrheblian competed in the No. 4 slot, downing WIU's Kendall Skeinert and Abby Baxter 21-23, 21-18. Joelle Coulter and Addie White edged out straight-set victories in the No. 3 position, defeating Nadia Reid and Kiersten Tisdale 21-19, 21-19. After a 21-16 victory in the first set, Nicki Bechtold and Teagan VanderMay outlasted the No. 5 pairing of Vivianne Cancio and Wanda Harris in set two, 25-23, to take the game.
HISTORY: This is the 15th meeting between the Mocs and Lions as Saint Leos leads the Mocs with 12 wins. This will be the 10th meeting against the Tritons with a close battle on the sand as Eckerd has five wins against FSC.

Opponent: Northwood
Date | Time: March 8, 2023 | 10:00 AM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Wynee Warden Tennis Center
Records: #24 Florida Southern 6-2, 2-2 SSC | Northwood 2-4, 0-0 G-MAC
No. 24 Florida Southern will return to Lakeland undefeated in its Hilton Head spring break trip and a seven-match win streak, the best since a nine-match streak to start the 2019 season. At Hilton Head, Mocs beat Tiffin 5-2, Barton 7-0, and most recently a 6-1 win over Saginaw Valley State University. Vivien Charvatova is shining on both doubles and singles courts, winning her last six doubles matches with two different pairings and five matches in singles. In their spring break trip, Mocs had great overall performances, including big collegiate wins by Jolie Miller and Kennedi Brown. Kelly Klaren has appeared in the last few doubles competitions, paired with Brown in big doubles court wins.
Northwood will take on the Mocs with a 6-1 win over Saginaw Valley State last week after a three-match losing streak against big opponents. The other win this season was a 5-2 victory by Lake Superior State. Before the matchup against the Mocs, the Timberwolves will face Flagler on the road this afternoon.
HISTORY: Both teams have faced each other 13 times in their history, with Florida Southern winning nine times. Last time out, Mocs won 6-1 at home and have a three-game win streak over the Timberwolves.

Opponent: Clark
Date | Time: March 8, 2023 | 1:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Berend Field
Records: #19 Florida Southern 3-2, 0-0 SSC | Clark 0-2, 0-0 NEWMAC
No. 19 Florida Southern continues its homestand Wednesday afternoon as Clark visits for Spring Break. The Mocs are looking to start a win streak having picked up their first home victory of the season this past Saturday versus Dominican, 25-4.
Senior Sean Nolan is within striking distance of the Florida Southern Career Points Record as he needs just three points to tie former teammate Jeff Atlas (2019-22) who scored 230 points during his career in Lakeland. Nolan sits at 227 career points and has scored at least three points in every contest this season. He is also 16 goals away from the Career Goals Scored Record at FSC held by Dane Sorensen (2012-15).
Nolan leads the offensive attack for the Mocs as he has a Sunshine State Conference leading 3.80 goals per game after 19 goals over the first five games of the season. He also is tied for the conference lead in points per contest at 5.00. Sophomore Matt Flammenspeck and freshman Nolan Tighe sit second and third on the team in goals scored with 12 and 10, respectively, this season. Graduate students Jay Minor and Andrew Medeiros have dished out a team-best seven assists each while Nolan sits just behind with six. At the face off, it has been freshman Jacob Czyz handling most of duties as he has gone 56-of-124 (.452) while fellow freshman Luke Henricksen took the majority of the attempts at the 'X' during the most recent contest and has won 16-of-27 this season (.593).
Defensively, senior Nick Shannon has caused a team-best 14 turnovers this season while scooping up 18 ground balls to rank second on the squad. As a team, the Mocs forced Dominican into 39 turnovers including 26 caused by an FSC defender. Senior Zac Fitzgerald ranks second on the team with nine caused turnovers while classmate Lucas Sommers ranks third with eight. Five goalkeepers have seen action for the Mocs this season led by graduate student Maxwell Freestone who has a 2-2 record this season with a 12.81 goals against average. Freestone has made 41 saves in 201-plus minutes of action. Junior Michael Simone started the contest versus Dominican and played three quarters while earning his first victory of the season. Simone has made 11 saves this season and has a 7.27 goals against average in 66 minutes of action.
Clark is winless in 2023 through two games having dropped contests to RPI (17-2) and Nichols (8-6). The Cougars are members of NCAA Division III and the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC). FSC is the lone non-DIII team on CU's schedule in 2023.
Graduate student Benjamin Hollerbach and sophomore Matt Wells lead the Cougars with three goals each while two others have one goal a piece. Hollerbach and Wells also lead the team in assists with two each in 2023. Graduate student Mark Zito has taken the majority of the face offs for the Cougars and has won 13-of-29 (.448) this season.
Freshman Jake Nudelman leads the defense with three caused turnovers. He is joined at the top of the list by three others who have two CTs each including Zachary Conant, Brett Newman and Michael Schiappa. Graduate student Sawyer Kindel is the top non-face off specialist in ground balls with five while specialist Zito has a team-best seven. The Cougars have used two goalkeepers this season with graduate student Ryan Mickelson seeing the majority of the minutes with an 0-2 record in 2023. He has a 12.52 goals against average and has 11 saves in 81-plus minutes this season. Junior Casey McCullough has seen 31-plus minutes and has 16 saves and a 15.05 goals against average.
HISTORY: Wednesday's contest will be the first meeting between Clark and Florida Southern and will also mark FSC's first contest against a member of the NEWMAC.

Opponent: Lander
Date | Times: March 8, 2023 | 4:00 PM & 6:00 PM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Chris Bellotto Field
Records: Florida Southern 9-7, 4-2 SSC | Lander 14-4, 6-0 PBC
Florida Southern is coming off a very busy weekend that ended with two doubleheader splits. First the Moccasins split with #24 Wilmington University falling in game one 5-4 before winning 6-5 in the final game on Friday night. FSC quickly turned around for another doubleheader Saturday morning winning the manatee 7-3 before falling in a 10 inning thriller 8-5 that forced an international rule breaker.
As a team FSC stays at fourth in the conference. The Mocs are on a one game losing streak and are looking to bounce back against another non-conference team in Lander University. Over the course of the past weekend, graduate student Maddi Conner walked it off on a 2 run- RBI double to split against the nationally ranked Wildcats to close the night. The Mocs picked back up the following morning with a 7-3 win against the Mustangs scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth.
Within Florida Southern junior Taylor Thomas is leading the way supporting a .478 batting average behind Thomas is senior Jessica Bryson and Junior Skyler Ralstin both batting a .333. Thomas is totalling 22 hits, six runs, six doubles, one homerun and 11 RBIs. Senior Jessica Bryson, batting going 14-for-42 from the plate, with seven runs, four RBIs, and two doubles. Peck, who is leading the team in homers with four, is batting a .291 going 16-for-55 from the leadoff spot. The Lakeland native has four homers, 13 RBIs, 11 runs, and two doubles. Junior Mel Rogers is leading FSC from the circle with four wins and one loss and a 2.55 ERA appearing in eight games. The right-handed pitcher has 24 strikeouts on the season, allowing 10 earned runs. Junior Ashley Blessin has started in eight games pitching four complete games with the most strikeouts sending 28 back to the dugout.
Lander is currently on an eight game win streak on facing one other conference school early in the season as they lost to Saint Leo on the season opening day 8-0 to be one of the Bearcats losses out of just four. The last three wins for Lander were big wins as they defeated South Carolina Beaufort to earn a conference series win with closeouts on game two and three with a 9-0 and 8-0 decisions.
Abbie Behe is leading the Bearcats with a .426 batting average starting in every game. Behe is 23-for-54 from the plate, with 17 runs, eight doubles, one triple, and two homers, while bringing in 19 RBIs. In the circle, Taylor Scott is leading Lander with a 2.15 ERA appearing in 11 games with eight starts owning a 7-3 record with one save. Scott has pitched six complete games allowing 17 earned runs but has striked out 34 batters. Also in the circle for the Bearcats is Bailey Pattison with a 3.19 ERA, Pattison is 6-1 on the year pitching four complete games and striking out 22 batters.
HISTORY: Florida Southern and Lander are meeting for just the fifth time as the last meeting was in 2020 when the Mocs fell in the doubleheader.

Opponent: Notre Dame College
Date | Time: March 9, 2023 | 11:00 AM
Location: Lakeland, Fla. | Berend Field
Records: #3 Florida Southern 5-0, 0-0 SSC | Notre Dame 0-1, 0-0 MEC
No. 2 Florida Southern picked up a pair of wins over the weekend 15-9 over Lee and 20-14 over Alabama Huntsville. In the two games, Hailey Daleo led the team with 10 points on eight goals and two assists. Madison Tare saw her first action of the year finishing the weekend with nine goals for nine points. Jackie Stoller continues to be at the forefront and finished with four goals and four assists for eight points.
On the season, Stoller is the team leader of six players with over 10 points, with 23 points through five games on 12 goals and 11 assists. Giana Murphy is second on the team with 19 points thanks to 12 goals and seven assists ahead of Hailey Daleo and Lizzy Lynch's 16 points. Daleo has a team-best 13 goals this season with three assists while Lynch stands at 11 and five, respectively. Abby McFerren rounds out the double-digit points leaders with 10 goals and three assists.
In goal, Rylie Rittberg has played in five games this year for a total of 167:45 minutes and owns a 3-0 record. She has made 22 saves for a .423 save percentage heading into the six-game-home stand for the Mocs. McKenzie Gaghan is 2-0 in goal with 132 minutes of action and eight saves.
As a team, the Mocs have scored 85 goals this season, holding opponents to just 57, for averages of 17 goals scored and 11.4 goals allowed. Florida Southern is evenly productive throughout the quarters with 25 first quarter goals, 22 second quarter, 26 third quarters, while just 12 fourth quarter goals. The largest margin of separation is the third quarter with 26 goals scored and just eight goals allowed. UAH and Wingate are the only opponents thus far to score three goals in the period, while the Mocs best defensive third came against then-no. 2 Adelphi, holding the Panthers scoreless.
Notre Dame will compete against No. 15 Flagler on March 7 before heading to Berend Field where the Falcons are currently 0-1 suffering a season opening loss to then-no. 7 UIndy (17-2). Grace Nickoloff and Joselyn storm are the lone two goal scorers thus far in the season where Megan Dano has the team's lone assist.
In goal, Annika Duncan made nine saves against the Greyhounds in the season opener playing the full 60 minutes in goal.
History: This is the second-ever meeting between the two teams where Florida Southern is 1-0 against Notre Dame. In the first meeting, nearly 11 years ago to the date of competition, the Mocs defeated the Falcons 21-7. Florida Southern used 12 first half goals and nine second half goals to win the March 10, 2012 meeting. Eleven different Mocs scored in the game while three players each notched hat tricks led by Megan Asper and Danielle LaDuca each with four goals.

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Players Mentioned

#3 Jeff Atlas: A; 6' 0"; Junior

Chris Fok Kow: 6' 1"; Junior

Inaki Braun Simo: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Mario Garoz: 6' 3"; Freshman

#55 Jessica Bryson: OF; 5' 2"; Senior

#17 Maddi Conner: 1B/C; 5' 8"; Graduate Student

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

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

#18 Sarah Crocker: 5' 10"; Junior

#23 Olivia D'Agostino: 5' 4"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#3 Jeff Atlas
: 6' 0"; Junior
: A

Chris Fok Kow
: 6' 1"; Junior

Inaki Braun Simo
: 6' 1"; Sophomore

Mario Garoz
: 6' 3"; Freshman

#55 Jessica Bryson
: 5' 2"; Senior
: OF

#17 Maddi Conner
: 5' 8"; Graduate Student
: 1B/C

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

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

#18 Sarah Crocker
: 5' 10"; Junior

#23 Olivia D'Agostino
: 5' 4"; Junior

Florida Southern College

Scoreboard

Mocs Minutes: Spring Break Heats Up with Midweek Action

Players Mentioned

#3 Jeff Atlas

Chris Fok Kow

Inaki Braun Simo

Mario Garoz

#55 Jessica Bryson

#17 Maddi Conner

#1 Skyler Ralstin

#18 Mel Rogers

#18 Sarah Crocker

#23 Olivia D'Agostino

Players Mentioned

#3 Jeff Atlas

Chris Fok Kow

Inaki Braun Simo

Mario Garoz

#55 Jessica Bryson

#17 Maddi Conner

#1 Skyler Ralstin

#18 Mel Rogers

#18 Sarah Crocker

#23 Olivia D'Agostino

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