TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — For the eighth year in a row and the 32nd time in program history, the Seminoles have eclipsed the 40-win plateau as No. 4 Florida State (40-8, 12-5 ACC) posted a 7-0 win over Boston College (15-27, 4-13 ACC) on Saturday afternoon at JoAnne Graf Field.
The Noles hit two home runs on Saturday to increase their season total to 72, which ranks second in FSU single-season history, trailing only the 76 home runs that were his during the 2018 season.
“It is a long season, and I don’t think people understand the toll that it takes on you, both physically and mentally,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “We’ve been excited to be home and in our routines, and it was great to see the freshmen perform today with Parker hitting a home run and Mak throwing a great game in the circle. We’re continuing to work on the little things as those are the things that will get us over the hump and be part of our growth throughout the rest of the year.”
For the 32nd time this season, the Seminoles scored in the first inning of the game and took an early 4-0 lead. Cali Harrod opened the game with an infield single, stole second base and scored on an RBI single by Sydney Sherrill. Elizabeth Mason was hit by a pitch and Dani Morgan made it 2-0 Seminoles with an RBI single to right.
Zoe Casas lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Mason, and a Boston College error allowed Morgan to score on the play as well. Overall, the Noles have scored 96 runs in the first inning, more runs than 19 teams had scored overall entering this weekend.
FSU starting pitcher Makinzy Herzog faced the minimum in the circle until the Eagles hit a pair of one-out singles in the top of the fourth inning. BC again put a pair of runners on in the fifth inning with a walk and a single, but a pop out and two groundouts kept the Eagles off the board.
The Noles added three runs in the bottom of the fifth for the 7-0 final score. Savannah Parker and Carsyn Gordon each hit solo home runs in the inning, and walks to Mason and Morgan allowed Casas to drive in her 26th RBI of the season on a single to right field.
Kara Bilodeau entered to pitch the final inning for the Noles and retired all three batters she faced. Herzog (7-2) finished with 6.0 shutout innings, allowing just three hits with two walks and two strikeouts in the win.
The Seminoles and Eagles will wrap up the series on Sunday, April 21 at 12:00 p.m. Sunday’s game will celebrate the 2019 junior class with a mini-poster available at the game, and a postgame autograph session on the second floor of the batting cages. Links for 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.
