LAKELAND, Fla. - The Florida Southern College softball team fell in a tough home doubleheader against #10 Wilmington University in a midweek contest. The Moccasins (5-10) dropped the first game 5-0, before battling it out in game two falling 9-2 to the Wildcats (3-0).
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 0, #10 WILMINGTON 5
Right-handed pitcher
Ashley Blessin made quick work in the circle, opening up with a strikeout that led to a three up, three down for the Wildcats. Leadoff batter,
Gabby Young made contact for a single to center field for the game's first hit.
The second inning found both the Mocs and Wildcats going down in order, followed by Wilmington's first hit, but they could not turn their efforts into runs. In the bottom of the third, FSC was able to get into scoring position with a single to the pitcher from
Morgan Roden, who later advanced to second after a
Kiki Morris singled to center field.
In the bottom of the fourth, Florida Southern loaded the bases with two outs on back-to-back singles from
Kate Mikle and
Shelbie Valencia.
Jadyn Bushnell loaded the bases on a walk, but the Moccasins were all stranded with the score still scoreless.
With the FSC putting the pressure on Wilmington after the last inning, in the top of the fifth, they made their mark scoring on a bases-loaded triple to take a 3-0 lead.
Florida Southern tried to cut into the Wildcats lead with singles from Morris and
Destiny Colgate but the two were left stranded at first and second. In the top of the fifth, Wilmington added an insurance run to its lead to make it 4-0 heading into the sixth as the Mocs looked to cut into the Wildcats' lead.
Mikle led off with a single, while Valenica and Bushnell loaded the bases on back-to-back walks with no outs as the Mocs put themselves in position to cut into the Wildcats lead. Despite the Mocs efforts, a double play followed by a caught stealing left FSC scoreless at the end of the inning.
Another insurance run came across home in the top of the seventh to make it 5-0 as Delani Sheehan pitched a shutout to move to 2-0 on the season.
In the circle, Blessin pitched a complete game striking out five batters. From the plate, Mocs had eight hits with Morris and Mikle leading with two.
FLORIDA SOUTHERN 2, #10 WILMINGTON 9
Wilmington continued their hot batting from game one as they led off with a single that moved around the bases to scoring on an RBI single to make it an early 1-0 game. The Wildcats doubled its score on a sac fly before the Mocs could get a hit on the board.
In the bottom of the fourth,
Taylor Thomas doubled to left field getting into scoring position on two outs.
Skyler Ralstin hit an RBI triple to bring Thomas home and cut WilmU lead in half, 2-1.
With three innings, left to play the Wildcats got back out to a two-run lead, and ended the inning scoring on a sac fly to make it 4-1.
In another two-out rally, Florida Southern cut the lead in half once again as Colgate got into scoring position with a double to left field before scoring on an RBI single from Thomas to make it 4-2. In the top of the seventh, Wilmington put the game out of reach tacking on five more runs to finish the game 9-2 and move to 3-0 in the young season.
Florida Southern College returns to Sunshine State Conference action on Friday as they open the series against Eckerd College with a single game in St. Petersburg. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:00 p.m.
