TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Needing all seven innings to extend its home winning streak to 14 games, No. 9 Florida State (30-4, 9-1 ACC) posted a 5-4, walk-off victory over NC State (17-23, 3-8 ACC) on Saturday night to win the regular season series over the Wolfpack. An RBI double in the bottom of the seventh by Zoe Casas to score Alex Kossoff secured the win for FSU.
Florida State is unbeaten in its last 29 conference series, dating back to 2012, with 19 sweeps. The Seminoles have won the ACC regular season title in each of the last three seasons and are 71-9 in their last 80 games against conference opponents.
“These sorts of games come down to maturity and handling adversity,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “We had a little breakdown in the fifth and sixth, but worked our way through it and didn’t let it keep us from attacking the next pitch. Battling through situations like tonight not only helped us get the win tonight, but will help us have confidence when we are tested the rest of the way and into the postseason.”
The Noles jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first inning. Morgan Klaevemann started the game with a walk and stole second and third before Ellie Cooper reached on a walk. Alex Powers followed with an RBI single and Jessica Warren added an RBI of her own on a fielder’s choice to the shortstop.
Sydney Broderick stepped in and hit a 3-2 pitch over the wall in right center for her third home run of the season, giving the Noles a 4-0 lead.
FSU starting pitcher Jessica Burroughs retired the side in the first inning and kept the Wolfpack off the scoreboard until the fifth inning. Alyssa Compton led off the frame with a single and an FSU fielding error allowed Macauley Prickett to reach base. Molly Hutchison cut the lead to 4-3 FSU with her seventh home run of the season.
NC State tied the game in the sixth as the Wolfpack again got the leadoff batter on with a base hit. Hanna Sommer singled to left and was pinch run for by Molly Martin. Martin moved up to second on a sac bunt and eventually came in to score on an RBI single by Compton to make it 4-4.
Florida State had several opportunities at the plate throughout the game, getting at least one runner on in each inning and two on in the second, third and fourth, but NC State’s pitcher Courtney Mirabella limited the damage and kept FSU off the board to allow her team to tie the game.
FSU’s Meghan King came in to pitch the seventh inning for the Seminoles and allowed a leadoff single to Tyler Ross. Ross stole second and later attempted to score on a single up the middle by Meredith Burroughs. Klaevemann cleanly gloved the ball in centerfield and threw home, retiring Ross at the plate and preserving the 4-4 game
It was the 10th outfield assist of her career for the sophomore from Refugio, Texas.
King retired the final batter of the seventh inning with a strikeout to give the Noles a chance to win it in the bottom half.
Broderick led off the inning with a single to right field and Carsyn Gordon was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game. Alex Kossoff came on to run for Broderick and second and came in to score on a walk-off double by Zoe Casas to left center, giving Florida State a 5-4 win.
King improved to 12-2 on the season with the relief victory, allowing two hits in 1.0 innings with two strikeouts. Burroughs gave up six hits in 6.0 innings, four runs, three earned with zero walks and eight strikeouts.
Mirabella (11-12) took the loss after allowing five runs on eight hits with six walks and three strikeouts over 6.0 innings.
The series will wrap up on Sunday, April 10 at 4:00 p.m.The game will be broadcast on ESPNU with Melissa Lee and Cheri Kempf on the call. Live stats will be available on Seminoles.com.
Sunday’s game will be FSU Softball’s annual Paint It Pink game, where the team wears special pink jerseys and fans can donate money to the Sharon Ewing Breast Health Center and Tallahassee Memorial Healthcare.
Also prior to Sunday’s game will be a special on-field ceremony for Coach Alameda for winning her 500th career win on April 6 against Jacksonville. Make sure to get to JoAnne Graf Field early on Sunday for all the festivities.
***Courtesy FSU Athletics
