TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Splitting the season series with the Gators in the Fresh From Florida Sunshine Showdown, No. 4 Florida State (38-8) lost by a score of 4-0 to No. 6 Florida (36-9) on Wednesday night in front of 1,818 fans at JoAnne Graf Field, marking the third-largest attendance in program history.
Prior to the game, the Seminole Tribe of Florida presented FSU head coach Lonni Alamedawith a portrait of Mother Morningstar, as well as a medallion of Mother Morningstar on a necklace. Florida Governor, Ron DeSantis, also threw out a ceremonial first pitch, and his daughter, Madison, also wandered out to the circle for a pregame pitch of her own.
“I loved the fight and the focus from the team tonight, but Kelly Barnhill was really spinning it tonight,” said Alameda. “It was great to see Makinzy and Kathryn work through a whole range of situations in front of nearly 2,000 passionate fans and have a lot of growing moments in the circle. While no one obviously enjoys losing, there are more things to take away from tonight than just the final score and we are looking forward to taking on Boston College this weekend.”
The game was scoreless through the first three innings as neither team was able to get a runner to third base. Florida opened the scoring in the top of the fourth with an RBI double by Jordan Matthews. A two-run double by Hannah Adams ended Makinzy Herzog’s day in the circle for the Noles as Kathryn Sandercock entered to pitch with the bases loaded and one out in the inning.
Sandercock induced a weak line drive to short and FSU’s Cali Harrod attempted to make a sliding catch, but the ball popped out of her glove. The UF runners froze on the play, thinking it could be caught, but when it wasn’t, it allowed for an easy 6-2-5 double play to end the inning.
Florida added a run in the top of the seventh inning as Amanda Lorenz led off with a triple to left and later scored on an RBI single by Jordan Roberts.
Sydney Sherrill recorded the only two hits by the Seminoles for the game on a double in the first and a single in the fourth.
Herzog (6-2) allowed three runs on five hits over 3.1 innings in the loss with three walks and two strikeouts in the loss. Sandercock tossed the final 3.2 innings and gave up just one run with five hits and a walk.
Florida State remains at home this weekend for a three-game series against Boston College on April 19-21. A link 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.
