SYRACUSE, N.Y. — Scoring 14 runs and recording nine extra-base hits, No. 5 Florida State (48-8, 19-5 ACC) finished the season sweep of the Orange with a 14-5 victory over Syracuse (21-31, 8-16 ACC) on Sunday at Skytop Stadium.
Anna Shelnutt carried the Noles offensively, setting a career high with four hits, including two home runs, a double and five RBI. For the weekend, the junior catcher posted a .800 batting average (8-for-10) with two doubles, three HR and eight RBI against the Orange.
The Seminoles earned the 2019 ACC Atlantic Division title and will be the No. 2 seed in the upcoming ACC Softball Championship on May 8-11 in Tallahassee. FSU’s first game will be on Thursday, May 9 at 5:00 p.m. against the winner of No. 7-seed Georgia Tech and No. 10-seed Virginia.
“Great way to finish out the regular season,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “The offense was just on fire today and made great adjustments from Friday and Saturday. Very proud of this team and he have grown so much from the beginning of the year. It has been challenging to figure out how to navigate some of the ups and downs, but I am really excited about the place we are in right now. Thrilled to head home and host the ACC Tournament and for everything else ahead of us.”
The Seminoles jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the top of the first inning as Cali Harrod and Carsyn Gordon led off with a pair of singles, and Sydney Sherrill put FSU on the scoreboard with an RBI single to right field.
Cassidy Davis reached on a two-out error which allowed two Noles to score to make it a 3-0 game. Following a double by Makinzy Herzog, Shelnutt hit her second home run of the weekend with a three-run HR to left.
The Syracuse scored a run in the bottom of the first after a double by Alicia Hansen and an RBI single from Neli Casares-Maher. FSU starting pitcher Meghan King struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
A pair of home runs made it a 9-1 FSU lead after the top of the second inning. Harrod hit her second single of the game and Sherrill hit her 14th home run of the year to right field. Elizabeth Mason followed with a solo home run, marking the seventh time that the Seminoles have hit back-to-back HRs this season.
Syracuse scored three runs in the bottom of the second on an RBI double by Gabby Teran, an FSU fielding error and an RBI single by Bryce Holmgren.
Shelnutt hit a solo home run to right field to begin the FSU third inning. It marked the third time in her career that she has hit multiple home runs in a game.
The Orange put a pair of runners on in the bottom of the third inning as two batters were hit by a pitch, but Rock Benavides ended the inning with a double play as she fielded a ball at third, stepped on the base and fired to first.
FSU added another run in the top of the fourth inning as Shelnutt posted her third hit of the game with a single to left center and Savannah Parker knocked a pinch-hit single to left. Harrod hit the 40th double of her career to right center to extend the Seminole lead to 11-4.
A three-run fifth inning for the Noles was started by a double to center by Mason and she scored after a single to left by Morgan. Leslie Farris hit a triple to right center and scored on an infield RBI single by Herzog. Shelnutt posted her fourth hit of the game to close out the scoring for the Noles with an RBI double to right field to make it 14-4 FSU.
Kathryn Sandercock pitched the final two innings for the Noles and allowed a lone run in the bottom of the fifth as a leadoff double from Casares-Maher was followed by an RBI single by Lailoni Mayfield. The freshman finished with four hits allowed over 2.0 innings with no walks or strikeouts.
Meghan King (26-5) picked up the win, giving up four runs on four hits with two walks and two strikeouts in 3.0 innings pitched.
The Seminoles return to Tallahassee as FSU hosts the 2019 ACC Softball Championship on May 8-11. Florida State is the No. 2 seed and will play its first game on Thursday, May 9 at 5:00 p.m. against the winner of Wednesday’s game between the No. 7-seed Georgia Tech and No. 10-seed Virginia. Tickets are on sale now and the games on Wednesday-Friday will be broadcast on the Regional Sports Networks (RSN), while Saturday’s championship game will air nationally on ESPN. Links for tickets, the broadcasts and live stats will be available on the softball schedule page of Seminoles.com.
Fans can listen to the FSU softball coaching staff, head coach Lonni Alameda and assistant coaches Travis Wilson and Craig Snider, on their weekly podcast: Coaches and Coffee – The FSU Softball Podcast. Each week, the coaches talk about the current state of the Seminole softball team, chat about NCAA softball from around the country, and have a lot of fun along the way. The podcast can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or directly at our website – fsusoftballpodcast.wordpress.com.
Throughout 2018-19, the Seminoles will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of women’s intercollegiate athletics at Florida State and there are many events and reunions planned for all women’s sports. Head to www.seminoles.com/50th/ for more information that will be updated throughout the year.
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.
