TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Recording a shutout for the fourth ACC game in a row, No. 6 Florida State (43-8, 14-5 ACC) opened the series against Duke (25-28, 11-11 ACC) with an 8-0 win in five innings on Friday evening at JoAnne Graf Field. The Seminoles have not allowed a run to a conference opponent in their last 27.2 innings, dating back to April 15 at North Carolina.
FSU hit a pair of home runs on Friday night, increasing its total to 76 on the season, tying the program record that was set during the 2018 NCAA National Championship season.
“Great way to start the weekend,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “Meghan and Kat were strong in the circle, the defense played well behind them and we had several big swings to drive in some runs. Solid team performance today, especially from those that came off the bench.”
Florida State took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning as Cali Harrod led off with a single to left and a walk by Carsyn Gordon allowed Sydney Sherrill to put the Noles on the board with an RBI single to right.
Duke managed to get a runner to third base with one out in the top of the second on a single, a sacrifice bunt and a passed ball. FSU starting pitcher Meghan King left her stranded as she struck out the next two batters to end the inning.
Gordon began the FSU third inning with a single and scored on an RBI double by Sherrill. It marked Sherrill’s 14th double of the season, which ranks in a tie for 11th in FSU history. Sherrill later scored on a two-run home run to right center by Elizabeth Mason to extend the FSU lead to 4-0.
The inning continued as Makinzy Herzog reached on an error and Anna Shelnutt drew a walk, prompting Duke to make a pitching change. The Blue Devils replaced Brianna Butler with Shelby Walters and the first pitch to pinch-hitter Cassidy Davis was lined into the right field corner for a two-run double.
Harrod closed out the seven-run inning with a two-run home run to right center for an 8-0 Seminole advantage.
Kathryn Sandercock entered to pitch for the Seminoles in the top of the fourth inning, ending King’s day in the circle. The redshirt senior improved to 23-5 on the year, allowing just two hits over 3.0 innings with zero walks and two strikeouts.
Sandercock retired the Blue Devils in order in the fourth and Duke got a pair of runners on in the fifth inning on a hit-by-pitch and an infield single, but Sandercock ended the game on a groundout to the circle.
The Seminoles and Blue Devils will play game two of the series on Saturday, April 27 at 1:00 p.m. as FSU softball honors its five student managers during a pregame ceremony. The game will air on ACC Network Extra and links for the broadcast, tickets 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.
