TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Recording a no-hitter for the second start in a row and the fourth time in her career, Meghan King and the Seminoles blanked the Wolfpack on Friday as No. 3 Florida State (30-3, 3-1 ACC) topped NC State (16-12, 0-4 ACC) by a score of 9-0 in five innings at JoAnne Graf Field.
It is the third no-hitter in the last four games for the Seminoles and opponents are batting .066 over that span, with just five hits and one run in the last 23.0 innings.
King (15-1) recorded 11 of the 15 outs on Friday with a strikeout, including six consecutive strikeouts from the first to the third inning, and allowed just two walks. She has not allowed a hit over her last 12.2 innings, dating back to March 15.
The Seminoles hit a pair of home runs to increase their total to 52 on the season, which ranks sixth in school history.
“I really liked how the team came out and made some things happen today to score some early runs,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “The defense played great and Meghan was able to spin the ball well against an aggressive, swinging team. Always excited for the series and for tomorrow’s game and making the little adjustments.”
Florida State didn’t record a hit in the first inning, but did score three runs to take an early 3-0 lead. Cali Harrod and Carsyn Gordon drew a pair of walks and each stole second base before Sydney Sherrill hit a ground ball to third base, and the Seminole runners got into a variety of rundowns but all would be safe on the play to load the bases.
Elizabeth Mason drew a walk to bring in the first run of the game, and Dani Morgan and Zoe Casas hit a pair of RBI groundouts to score the other runners.
Anna Shelnutt opened the bottom of the second inning with a solo home run to left and Leslie Farris followed with a bunt single. Consecutive walks to Harrod and Gordon again loaded the bases and Mason drove in her second run of the game with a fielder’s choice.
Harrod tied a career high with her third walk of the game to begin the FSU fourth inning and, after an infield single by Gordon, came in to score on an NC State fielding error. Morgan hit a three-run home run for the second game in a row for the 9-0 final score.
The Seminoles and Wolfpack will play game two of the series on Saturday, March 23 at 1:00 p.m. The game will air on ACC Network Extra and links for the broadcast, live stats and ticket information 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.
