TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - Kathryn Sandercock threw her first career no-hitter, and the offense drew 11 walks to give the sixth-ranked Florida State softball team (22-6, 1-0) a 10-0 run-rule win over Syracuse (7-12, 0-4) in its ACC opener Friday afternoon at JoAnne Graf Field. The Noles improved to 26-2 all-time against the Orange and have now won 24 straight games in the series.
Sandercock threw the 116th no-hitter in FSU history and the 33rd no-hitter under Head Coach Lonni Alameda. Sandercock needed just 37 pitches in five innings to complete the no-hitter while striking out two batters and surrendering one walk.
The Orange did threaten in the first inning as an error allowed the first batter of the game to advance to second. After advancing to third on a groundout, Sandercock ended the threat with back-to-back groundouts.
The Noles threatened in the bottom of the first as they loaded the bases with two outs thanks to a pair of walks and a fielder's choice, but they were unable to bring a run across.
Both offenses went quiet until the bottom of the fourth inning when Devyn Flaherty began the inning by reaching second on an error by the center fielder on a pop fly. After Jahni Kerr was retired, the Noles drew five consecutive walks to bring in five runs. Hallie Wacaser then singled to bring in another run to make the score 7-0. After Flaherty walked and Kerr was hit by a pitch, Michaela Edenfield drew her second walk of the inning to make the score 8-0. Mack Leonard picked up an RBI on a groundout, and Amaya Ross singled to bring the 10th run of the inning across.
This was the first time since Feb. 8, 2020, that the Noles scored 10 or more runs in an inning when they scored 13 runs in the first inning in a 22-0 win over Detroit Mercy.
Sandercock came back out in the fifth inning to complete her no hitter and after surrendering a walk, the Noles recorded a 5-4-3 double play to end the game.
The Seminoles will look to take the series tomorrow at 1 p.m. at JoAnne Graf Field.
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