LAKELAND, Fla.—The eighth-ranked Barry Buccaneers found a way to get past the Florida Southern Moccasins 1-0 at Barnett Field in Sunshine State Conference softball action on Saturday night. Amber Durkin hit a solo homer and Brianna Smith (12-3) made it stand up as the Bucs won the opener of an SSC series for the third time this year via shutout.
The Bucs (23-5, 6-1 SSC) got the only run they would need in the second inning. With two out, Durkin laced a fly ball into right-centerfield, just over the reach of outfielder Marty Wilcox and over the fence for her first home run of the season.
From that point, pitcher Smith and the Barry defense took over. Smith scattered eight hits and did not issue a walk in posting her seventh shutout of the season, the fourth by that 1-0 score. She struck out seven.
Smith stranded Moccasin runners in scoring position in each of the third through the sixth innings, and though FSC (21-5, 4-3 SSC) managed two hits in the seventh, neither reached second as pinch runner Allasyn Lieneck was thrown out by catcher Kayla Monroy trying to steal.
Christine Clark (14-3) was the hard-luck loser for the Mocs. She allowed just five hits, singles by Grace Collins in the first and sixth innings and back-to-back singles by Jessica Tabor and Julie Brito in the seventh along with the homer by Durkin. She also did not allow a walk and struck out five.
The game was the third time in three series that Smith has tossed a shutout in SSC play, having blanked Florida Tech 4-0 and Saint Leo 1-0 in prior series openers.
The teams will conclude the series on Sunday with a doubleheader starting at 1:00 pm. The game will be carried live on the Buccaneer Broadcasting Network powered by Stretch Internet on GoBarryBucs.com, while live statistics are provide b y Florida Southern.
Barry 1, Florida Southern 0 (03/17/12 at Lakeland, FL)
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Barry....................... 010 000 0 - 1 5 0 (23-5, 6-1 SSC)
Florida Southern.... 000 000 0 - 0 8 0 (21-5, 4-3 SSC)
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Pitchers: Barry - Brianna Smith and Kayla Monroy. Florida Southern - Christine Clark and Devin Mathews.
Win-Brianna Smith(12-3) Loss-Christine Clark(14-3) T-1:25 A-219
HR BU - Amber Durkin (1).
Weather: 82, partly cloudy, 13 mph wind