TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — The Florida State softball team defeated Central Florida 5-1 Saturday afternoon in the NCAA Division I softball Tallahassee Regional tournament game at JoAnne Graf Field at the Seminole Softball Complex.
With the win, the Seminoles (52-8) advance to Sunday's regional final round against No. 2 seed South Carolina.
A win Sunday gives No. 1 seed Florida State the Tallahassee regional championship and a berth to the best-of-3 game Super Regional round of the NCAA tournament.
South Carolina needs to win two games against FSU Sunday to claim the regional title and to advance to the super regional round.
Because of anticipated inclement weather, FSU athletics announced the regional final will begin at 11 a.m. Sunday with the if necessary game starting either at 1:30 p.m. or 30 minutes after the end of the 11 a.m. game.
As for Saturday's game, it was a scoreless game after two innings, but in the bottom of the third inning, No. 3 seed UCF (40-20) scored a run on an RBI single by Chloe Evans to take a 1-0 lead.
FSU responded in the top of the fourth inning with an RBI groundout, which tied the game 1-1.
FSU then scored two runs in the top of the fifth inning to take a 3-1 lead.
Kaley Mudge's RBI double in the top of the seventh inning was part of a two-run frame for the Seminoles, which extended their lead to 5-1.
FSU's Kathryn Sandercock pitched 6 2/3 innings gave up eight hits, an earned run, two walks and posted six strikeouts in the win.
UCF's Sarah Willis pitched 4 1/3 innings, gave up two hits, three runs, two earned runs and posted three strikeouts in the loss.
