TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — The third-ranked Florida State Seminoles (13-0) started the Unconquered Invitational with a 3-0 win against Hofstra (0-6) and a 9-0 win against Indiana (3-3).
Game 1: #3 Florida State 3, Hofstra 0
Danielle Watson pitched a masterclass game for the Seminoles. Watson pitched a complete game, only allowed one hit, four walks, and allowed zero runs. On top of that, Watson shattered her career-high in strikeouts with 11K’s today.
Watson, who had 30 strikeouts all season prior to the game against Hofstra, beat both her season-high (eight strikeouts against Mercer on 2/11/21) and her career-high (nine strikeouts against NC State last season) with her dominant performance today. That performance included an incredible stretch during the 4th and 5th inning in which Watson struck out six straight Hofstra batters.
Offensively, the Seminoles had a relatively quiet game compared to the rest of the season. The Noles only put up three runs on five hits and five walks during the first game of the day.
That did not stop redshirt freshman Michaela Edenfield from hitting an absolute bomb that almost landed in spirit way garage in the bottom of the first inning. That home run gave the Seminoles a 2-0 run as sophomore Kalei Harding had walked the at-bat prior.
The homer by Edenfield added to her team-leading total with five home runs this season with only twelve games played. Five home runs on the season are three more than any other Seminole has so far this season (Kalei Harding and Mack Leonard are both tied for second with two).
Later in the third inning, after Mack Leonard walked for the fifth time this season, it was Kalei Harding’s turn to drive a runner in as she hit the Seminole's only other extra-base hit of the game with a double that drove in Harding that made the score 3-0 for the rest of the game.
Elsewhere throughout the game, Edenfield hit another single and got hit by a pitch, junior Devyn Flaherty hit a single, and fellow junior Kaia LoPreste got a hit.
Game 2: #3 Florida State 9, Indiana 0
Kathryn Sandercock got the start in the second game of the day for the Florida State Seminoles against the Indiana Hoosiers. Sandercock pitched a five-inning gem as she held the Hoosiers to zero runs, two hits, zero walks, and five strikeouts in the Seminoles' 9-0 run-rule win.
Scoring came easy for the Seminoles this game as Devyn Flaherty hit her first home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning. It was a three-run shot to center field that scored Kalei Harding and Michaela Edenfield who got on base via a walk and a fielder’s choice earlier in the inning.
While the Noles went scoreless in the second and third inning, the fourth inning is where the Seminoles ran away with the game. After Hallie Wacaser singled and was replaced by Autumn Belviy at first, Josie Muffley singled to put two runners on base for the Seminoles. Jahni Kerr doubled deep to center field, scoring Belviy to make the score 4-0.
With the lead being 4-0 and still having two runners on base, Mack Leonard walked making the bases loaded with only one out in the inning. Harding then scored on an error by the Hoosiers to make the lead 5-0. With the bases loaded, Edenfield stepped up to bat and on a 2-0 pitch, crushed a grand slam to make the lead 9-0 for the Seminoles.
Edenfield’s home run was her second on the day as she had one earlier against Hofstra, and extended her team lead in home runs to six on the season. After the fourth inning ended, Sandercock allowed a double, but then struck out two of the final three batters to win the game for the Seminoles.
