TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — The third-ranked Florida State Seminoles (15-0) played the final two games in the Unconquered Invitational and got a pair of wins on Saturday afternoon: a 3-1 victory vs Indiana (4-4) and a 10-0 victory vs Hofstra (0-8)
Game 1: No. 3 Florida State 3, Indiana 1
The Seminoles and the Hoosiers competed in an extremely tight first game of the day. Danielle Watson took the mound and got the win as she picked up where she left off yesterday. Watson pitched 6.0 innings, only allowed one run, four hits, two walks, and struck out four Hoosier batters.
During the first inning of the game, Watson allowed back-to-back Hoosiers on base to start the game. The Seminole defense stepped up to get themselves out of a tough situation. Earning their sixth double play of the season, Sydney Sherrill made a tough tag at third base and threw a perfect ball to get the out at first as well.
Kathryn Sandercock came into the game in the top of the seventh inning and got the save for the Seminoles. Sandercock only had to pitch seven pitches for the Seminoles to get the save as she caused the first two batters to ground out. On the last out of the game, Josie Muffley made an absolute beauty of a diving catch headed towards the outfield to secure the win for the Seminoles.
On offense, the Seminoles struggled throughout the first five innings as the team had only had two hits and reached on base via walk once. When the sixth inning started, the Seminoles got back to their clutch ways. After Muffley hit a first-pitch triple to get the inning started, the Seminoles capitalized on an error by the Hoosiers that allowed Muffley to score, Jahni Kerr to reach base and the Seminoles to tie the game 1-1. The very next at-bat, Mack Leonard crushed a two-run home run to centerfield that scored herself and Amaya Ross, who came into to pinch run for Kerr.
Scoring Summary
T4 | Warrick singled, scoring Hayes (Florida State 0, Indiana 1)
B6 | Kerr reached base on a error by 2b, scoring Muffley (Florida State 1, Indiana 1)
B6 | Leonard homered, scoring Ross (Florida State 3, Indiana 1)
Game 2: No. 3 Florida State 10, Hofstra 0
The Seminoles took on the Hofstra Pride in the second game of the day and the final game of the Unconquered Invitational. Kathryn Sandercock got her second start in as many days and pitched a near-perfect 3.0 innings. During those innings, she didn’t allow a single hit, did not walk a batter, had one strikeout, and allowed one Hofstra batter to reach base due to being hit.
Unlike the game earlier in the day, the Seminoles got off to a lightning-fast start in the second game. In the first inning, after Jahni Kerr walked as the first batter of the day for the Seminoles, Mack Leonard doubled to put runners on second and third with no outs. When Kalei Harding came to bat, she hit a double deep to left-center field to score the first two runs of the game for the Seminoles.
The Seminoles were just getting started in the bottom, after Harding made it 2-0 with her RBI double, she advanced to third base on a wild pitch. Michaela Edenfield walked to first base shortly after that and with runners on first and third, Devyn Flaherty singled to score Harding and make the game 3-0.
With two outs and runners on base, Amaya Ross who got the first start of her young FSU career stepped up to the plate. On a 1-0 count, Ross had her first career hit for the Seminoles, a two-RBI triple to put the Seminoles up 5-0 in the bottom of the first inning.
While the Seminoles did not have much action during the second and third inning by the time the fourth inning came around, they were able to replicate their first inning magic. After Leonard walked to get on base again to open the inning, Harding decided to help her out and drive her home again as Harding hit her second double of the day to make the score 7-0 for the Seminoles.
After Flaherty singled again and advanced Harding to third base, it was once again Amaya Ross’s turn to be the star for the Seminoles. Coming off her first career hit earlier in the game, Ross went on to hit her first career home run for the Seminoles, a three-run shot deep to left field to put the Seminoles up 10-0 against Hofstra. That home run led to the Seminoles being able to clinch a run-rule victory for the second time in two days.
Elsewhere in the game, Brianna Enter came into the game for Kathryn Sandercock and pitched the fourth inning and Emma Wilson came into to pitch the final inning for the Seminoles. Enter allowed one walk and hit one batter but got one strikeout and forced the other two batters she faced out. In the bottom of the fifth inning, Wilson allowed Hofstra to have their first two hits of the day, but she struck out two batters and caused the last batter of the game to ground out giving the Seminoles the victory.
Scoring Summary
B1 | Harding doubled, scoring Leonard and Kerr (Florida State 2, Hofstra 0)
B1 | Flaherty singled, scoring Harding (Florida State 3, Hofstra 0)
B1 | Ross tripled, scoring Edenfield and Harding (Florida State 5, Hofstra 0)
B4 | Harding doubled, scoring Leonard (Florida State 6, Hofstra 0)
B4 | Sherill singled, scoring Harding (Florida State 7, Hofstra 0)
B4 | Ross homered, scoring Hartley and Flaherty (Florida State 10, Hofstra 0)
