TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (seminoles.com) — The No. 16 Florida State softball team (11-4) took it to the fifth-ranked Florida Gators (14-1) on Saturday night, 7-2, handing them their first loss of the season.
With the win, Florida State and Florida have now split their last eight meetings.
Florida 2, Florida State 7
Kathryn Sandercock started and pitched an absolute gem for the Seminoles. She threw a complete game for the Noles in the circle as she allowed six hits and two runs with six strikeouts.
Florida State had an offensive explosion in the bottom of the second inning, scoring five runs on four hits. With the bases loaded, a wild pitch scored the first run. Josie Muffley then laid down a bunt with runners on second and third, scoring the second run of the inning.
FSU had runners on the corners with no outs for Elizabeth Mason, who stepped up to the plate and hit a single to left field scoring two more runs, giving FSU a 4-0 lead.
Florida State was not finished in the second inning, as they scored one more run on a Kalei Harding double off of the center field wall.
Florida got two runs back in the top of the fourth inning, narrowing the FSU lead to 5-2. The two runs came off of a double by Wilkie and a sacrifice fly by Longley.
The Seminoles extended their lead back to five in the fifth inning as Josie Muffley singled up the middle driving in two more runs, giving Florida State an insurmountable 7-2 lead.
Scoring Summary
- B2 | A wild pitch scored D’Aun Riggs from third. (Florida 0, Florida State 1)
- B2 | Josie Muffley reached on a sacrifice bunt to the pitcher, scoring Kiersten Landers from third. (Florida 0, Florida State 2)
- B2 | Elizabeth Mason doubled to left field scoring Muffley and Anna Shelnutt. (Florida 0, Florida State 4)
- B2 | Kalei Harding doubled off of the center field wall scoring Mason. (Florida 0, Florida State 4)
- T4 | A Wilkie double through the left side scored Kistler from third. (Florida 1, Florida State 5)
- T4 | Longley had a sac fly to right field in foul territory, scoring Echols from third. (Florida 2, Florida State 5)
- B5 | Muffley singled up the middle with the bases loaded scoring Landers and Mudge. (Florida 2, Florida State 7)
From Head Coach Lonni Alameda:
“The win was huge for Team 38. I think for this team, this year, what we are trying to find with our consistency defensively and our hitting and pitching. We did not feel good about ourselves coming home yesterday and to flip the script and get after it energy wise from first pitch to last pitch, I am really proud of them. Kat took control out there and pitched a gem for us today. It was really good for us moving forward.”
Up Next
Florida State welcomes Arizona to JoAnne Graf Field next week in a three game series (March 11-13).
Follow Florida State softball on Twitter (@FSU_Softball) and Instagram (fsusoftball), and like our Facebook page (Facebook.com/FSUsoftball) to keep up to date with everything about Seminole softball.
