LAKELAND, Fla. – It was the perfect storm of potent offense and near-flawless defense that allowed the Embry-Riddle softball team to convincingly win a pair of games against Florida Southern on Wednesday night.
The Eagles (26-14, 17-9 Sunshine State Conference) downed the Mocs (18-25, 7-19 SSC) 6-0 in game one and scored a season-high, and fourth-most all-time, 14 times in the 14-1 game-two victory at Chris Bellotto Field. In total, 11 different members of the Blue and Gold came away with a hit during the two contests.
Embry-Riddle moves to 12-2 all-time against Florida Southern, including a 6-2 mark on the road.
GAME 1 | RV Embry-Riddle - 6, Florida Southern - 0
The Eagles had multiple opportunities to do some damage early on by loading the bases in each of the first two innings but were unable to convert on the chances.
To give the offense time, starting pitcher
Kelsi Collins took a pitch-to-contact approach in the circle, and it paid off. The senior recorded only one strikeout but kept Florida Southern off the scoreboard and limited the Mocs to just two hits in the entire contest.
Finally, in the third, Embry-Riddle found a gap with a runner on third.
Isabelle Bonn floated a ball into shallow center to score
Maggie Scott for the first run of the game.
The entire Eagle batting order came to the dish in the fourth. Scott return the favor with a two-RBI hit of her own to allow
Mahaliyah Sandridge and
Lia Johnson to come home. Two batters later,
ReAnne Drayton touched the plate on a wild throw. Bonn then improved to 2-for-2 with yet another RBI base knock to score, you guessed it, Scott for a four-run frame.
In the bottom half of the inning, Embry-Riddle's defense turned a smooth 6-4-3 double play to move the game into the fifth.
Both offenses were kept in check in the fifth frame, but
Karina Ortiz-Munoz livened things up with her first home run as an Eagle in the sixth to push Embry-Riddle ahead 6-0.
Bonn tallied a season-best three hits in four at-bats with two RBI.
Kelsey Kressler also notched a trio of hits. Additionally, Scott went 2-for-4 with a pair of runs and RBI. While Sandridge didn't record a hit, she did reach base three times and became the first player of the season to be walked three times in a game.
Collins (18-6) earned her SSC-best 18th win of the season and her third shutout.
GAME 2 | RV Embry-Riddle - 14, Florida Southern – 1 (5 Inn.)
Florida Southern picked up its first run and lead of the series with a single and RBI double in the bottom of the first. From that point on, though,
Mallory Kinahan was lights out in the circle. The freshman prevented the Mocs from adding to the run column for the remainder of the game with only one hit allowed.
The Eagles trailed until the third when
Savannah Brockenbrough tied the game by going from first to home on single to right from Sandridge that escaped past the outfielder. One batter later, Johnson tripled in Sandridge to put the Blue and Gold on top.
Embry-Riddle continued to pile on the runs moving forward, totaling four in the fourth and eight in the fifth.
Gigi Auricchio was inserted as a pinch hitter in the fourth inning and mashed a pitch to left field for a three-run shot, her first of the season. Later on, Kressler snuck home on a throwdown to second.
Six different Eagles earned a hit in the fifth inning. Two walks and two errors put another four on the base paths as Embry-Riddle sent 13 batters to the plate in the eight-run frame. Up 14-1 at the end of the inning, the mercy rule was enforced to secure the doubleheader sweep for the Eagles.
Kressler had yet another productive game with a 2-for-3 mark alongside two runs and an RBI. Johnson went 2-for-4 with a run and RBI each while Auricchio amassed three RBI and a run on her home run in the fourth.
Kinahan (8-8) moved back to .500 on the season with the win. She finished with one earned run on three hits with no strikeouts.
Embry-Riddle will go for the series sweep tomorrow. Game three starts at 5 p.m.
