TALLAHASSEE, Fla. - The FAMU Women’s Softball team battled back valiantly from a 5-0 deficit in the late innings, but came up two runs short Saturday afternoon in a season-ending 6-4 setback to South Florida in the Tallahassee Regional at JoAnne Graf Field.
FAMU (27-30) fell behind 1-0 after the first inning, and USF (45-15) added three runs in the second and one more in the fourth to build a 5-0 advantage.
The Lady Rattlers began their comeback bid in the bottom of the fifth, when Whitney Farris’ single to left center scored Miesha McBride for the first FAMU run. Raven Moseley, who walked, then advanced to second and third on two passed balls, scored from third on a USF wild pitch for a 5-2 score.
The Bulls plated their final run in the top of the sixth to extend their lead to 6-2, but FAMU had one last gasp in the bottom of the seventh, aided by two USF errors, scoring two runs to pull to 6-4.
Moseley scored on an error on Tashayla Irvis’ ground ball, then Alexis Day’s sacrifice fly to right scored Farris for a 6-4 score.
FAMU managed to load the bases with two outs, but Kieifi Myrick grounded back to the pitcher to end the game.
The Lady Rattlers finished with six hits, as Farris, Day, Taylor Rosier, Toni Anderson, McBride and Moseleyeach had singles. Day, Farris and Irvis each had a run driven in.
Veronica Burse (8-12) took the loss for FAMU, lasting into the second before being lifted for Kenya Pereira. Burse allowed four runs on three hits with two walks in one-and-one-third innings, while Pereira allowed two runs on five hits with one strikeout and one walk in five-and-two-third innings.
“I’m very proud of my team and the effort they gave at the end." FAMU softball coach Veronica Wiggins said. "If we had come out with a little more intensity at the start things might have ended differently. But our players set a goal before the season that they wanted to get to the regionals and compete and I think we accomplished that. I have six juniors who set a goal to win championships, and I look forward to them providing leadership for us next season."
“I think what we can take away from this tournament is that we can play with the best teams, that we are definitely one of the best 64 teams in the country.” outfielder Whitney Farris said.
