ATLANTA — Trailing Georgia Tech by a score of 3-2 entering the top of the sixth, No. 14 Florida State (29-6, 9-0 ACC) quickly turned it around, scored nine runs and ended the game in the bottom half of the inning for an 11-3 win in six innings over the Jackets (19-15, 5-4 ACC) on Sunday afternoon.
The Seminoles completed the sweep of the Yellow Jackets and remain undefeated in conference play this season. The win is Florida State’s 35th consecutive ACC victory, which is tied with Fresno State (1999-2000 – WAC) for the fifth-longest conference winning streak in NCAA history.
FSU brought 13 batters to the plate in the sixth inning and recorded eight hits, including four doubles and drew a pair of walks as the Noles broke the game wide open. Carsyn Gordon finished with three doubles and four RBI in the game, while Zoe Casas was 3-for-3 at the plate with three RBI and was a home run short of the cycle.
“One of our core values is Competitive, and I loved how the team displayed that today and never stopped fighting or competing,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “We got down early, but didn’t stop battling in the circle. We had a lot of good opportunities offensively, ended up leaving a lot of runners on base through the first five innings, but we didn’t let those missed chances impact our future at bats and stayed present and focused on the next pitch. Because you don’t know who is going to get a swing for the team, and it may come in the first inning or it might be the sixth or seventh inning. Huge to get a conference sweep on the road and now we head home for some more challenges this coming week.”
Georgia Tech got on the board in the first inning on a two-run home run by Katie Krzus. GT’s Draven Sonnon drew a one-out walk off of Seminole starting pitcher Savanna Copeland and Krzus hit her eighth HR of the season to left center. Copeland ended the inning with a pair of strikeouts to keep the game at 2-0 GT.
Florida State threatened in the top of the second, getting runners to second and third with two outs on a single by Casas and a double by Anna Shelnutt, but a strikeout left them both stranded.
Morgan Klaevemann led off the FSU third inning with a bunt single, stole second and moved to third on a groundout. She came in to score on a one-out RBI double by Gordon, cutting the Yellow Jacket lead to 2-1.
After issuing a leadoff walk to Bianca Mora in the GT third inning, Copeland was replaced in the circle by Meghan King. The Yellow Jackets were able to load the bases with a walk and a one-out single by Krzus. King retired the next batter on a line out to the circle, but a wild pitch by the redshirt junior gave GT another run for a 3-1 lead. King ended the inning with a strikeout.
Elizabeth Mason drew a walk to start the Seminole fourth inning and quickly came into score on a triple to center by Casas to cut the deficit to one run. A pair of two-out walks to Morgan Klaevemann and Cali Harrod loaded the bases but a groundout left the bases full of Seminoles as GT took a 3-2 lead into the bottom of the fourth.
The Seminoles loaded the bases again in the fifth on a double by Sydney Sherrill, a walk to Casas and Shelnutt getting hit by a pitch, but all three would be left stranded on base.
Florida State took the lead in the sixth inning, scoring nine runs for an 11-3 advantage. Harrod hit a one-out single to left center and back-to-back RBI doubles by Gordon and Sherrill put the Noles in front 4-3. It marked Sherrill’s 16th double of the season, moving into a tie for sixth in FSU single-season history with Alex Powers (2016), Victoria East (2013) and Cindy Lawton (1995).
The inning continued with a walk to Jessie Warren and a single to left field by Mason to load the bases. Casas hit a two-run double to right center and Shelnutt followed with an RBI single to left to make it 7-3 Florida State.
Rosario brought in a pair of runs with a single through the right side in her second plate appearance of the inning and Harrod followed with a walk. Gordon brought in both of them on a two-run double down the left field line to close out the Seminole scoring.
King retired the Jackets in order in the bottom of the sixth, capping the game off with a pair of strikeouts. The redshirt junior improved to 12-3 on the season, tossing 4.0 innings of relief, giving up just one hit and two walks, while striking out five.
Copeland recorded a season-high five strikeouts in her 2.0 inning start, allowing just one hit and three runs with two walks.
Florida State returns home for the start of a six-game homestand, beginning with a doubleheader of No. 21 Louisiana (23-7) on April 4. First pitch of game one will be at 4:00 p.m., with game two starting 30 minutes after the completion of game one. Links for FSU softball radio and live stats will be available on the softball schedule page of Seminoles.com.
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