TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) — Redshirt Sophomore pitcher Kathryn Sandercock extended her scoreless innings pitched streak to 19 straight frames as she shut down No. 20 Duke and helped No. 9 Florida State Softball to a 5-0 win on Friday night at JoAnne Graf Field.
Sandercock (13-1) pitched a complete-game shut-out, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit and three walks in 23 batters faced. Sandercock threw just 80 pitches and also struck out three Blue Devils (27-7) in the big conference win.
The only hit surrendered by Sandercock was a leadoff triple by Duke’s Deja Davis to begin the fourth inning. But in that frame, she stranded Duke’s lone runner and ended the inning when Davis tried to steal home in between pitches, with Sandercock throwing her out at the plate.
All five of the Seminoles’ (25-6) runs came with two outs in Friday night’s nationally-ranked matchup. Senior Cassidy Davis led the way by going 2-for-2, including her team-leading fifth home run of the season in the third inning when she jumped on a 2-1 offering from Duke starting pitcher Peyton St. George (11-4) and smashed it to centerfield for a two-run homer.
In the bottom of the sixth, Sydney Sherril smacked a two-out, two-run double to left center to plate Elizabeth Mason and create the game’s final score at 5-0. The extra insurance runs were more than enough for Sandercock, who faced the minimum of three batters in the seventh despite allowing a walk.
The game ended on a strikeout-throwout scenario as Duke’s Sydney Bolan swung and missed, and FSU catcher Anna Shulnutt delivered her own strike down at second base to throw out pinch runner Kendyl Lange to end the game.
Saturday’s doubleheader has been moved up to 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. due to the threat of inclement weather in the afternoon. The 2 p.m. matchup will air on ESPN2.
