Mocs Outhit Griffins in 5-2 Victory at Home

LAKELAND, Fla. – The Florida Southern College baseball had a fantastic day at the plate with a 5-2 win over Seton Hill University Friday afternoon at Henley Field.
 
The Mocs (8-8) outhit Seton Hill 15-to-three in a great day with all but one of the starting lineup with a hit on the day. The Griffins (8-5), who are receiving votes in the latest NCBWA poll, took an early 1-0 lead in the second but quickly relinquished the lead with a 5-2 FSC victory.
 
Mitchell LeRoy had the start for the Moccasins and had a slight dip in the opening batters of the first inning, but three straight groundouts left Seton Hill on base. In the home half of the first, Jevin Relaford opened with a single, followed by a single by Bryce Safferwich two batters later, but were later left on in a scoreless first inning.
 
In the top of the second inning, the bases were loaded when a hit by pitch allowed the first SHU run, but LeRoy dialed in for a strikeout swinging and an infield flyout to leave three stranded in a 1-0 SHU advantage. Despite two hits in the bottom of the second, by Nick Collins and Chris McKenna, a flyout ended the inning down by one run.  FSC kept SHU scoreless in the third to bring up a big bottom-third inning for the Mocs.
 
Relaford had another opening hit and D'Ante Starks followed with his own single. With runners in scoring position, Rohsean Riley had a monster hit up the middle to send Relaford home and a wild pitch later sent Starks home. A sacrifice fly by Collins sent in the third run of the inning as FSC took a 3-1 lead. The Griffins cut into the lead with a solo run in the top of the fourth off a fielder's choice but FSC held a 3-2 lead.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, the Mocs had one hit and two walks to have the bases loaded and took advantage of a SHU wild pitch to score their fourth run, though two were still left on. FSC had a similar outing in the fifth with three left on after three hits but pitching by LeRoy and reliever Casey O'Dell kept SHU behind in a 4-2 FSC game.
 
Florida Southern added a consolation run in the eighth off another R. Riley RBI for the 5-2 score while O'Dell continued to shine and hold on for the team win. O'Dell was credited with the save and LeRoy his second win of the season. R. Riley led the team with two RBI and Relaford had a team-high three hits and three runs. Safferwich extended his hit streak to nine games with his solo hit as six Moccasins had a multi-hit game. Despite a combined seven hit by pitch by the FSC pitching core, O'Dell excelled on the mound as he held SHU scoreless, allowed only one hit, and had four strikeouts in his three innings of work.
 
The Mocs conclude their series against Seton Hill tomorrow, March 9, set for a noon start at Henley Field. Note that the time change from an original 11 a.m. start.
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