RALEIGH, N.C. – Winning its seventh consecutive game in the ACC Championship, No. 6 Florida State (46-8) needed only six innings to advance to the next round, taking down Pitt (31-21) by a score of 8-0 on Thursday afternoon at Dail Stadium on the campus of NC State. Sydney Broderick went 3-for-4 with three runs scored and secured the victory with a three-run home run in the bottom of the sixth.
The top-seeded Seminoles move on to play the winner of No. 4-seed Boston College and No. 5-seed North Carolina in the ACC Semifinals on Friday, May 13 at 1:00 p.m.
“Another solid team win today,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “The bottom of our lineup really came through today with quality at bats to move runners, draw walks and score some runs. Meghan King pitched a great game and allowed the defense to work behind her. Now we look to tomorrow and take on our next opponent.”
FSU broke out to a 4-0 lead in the second inning as Broderick got the inning started with a single up the middle and back-to-back walks to Carsyn Gordon and Victoria Daddis loaded the bases. Cali Harrod gave the Noles a 1-0 lead with an RBI single through the left side, her 17th RBI of the season.
A bases-loaded walk to Klaevemann extended the lead to 2-0 and Korina Rosario entered the game to pinch-run for Daddis. Another run came in on a fielder’s choice by Ellie Cooper as the Panthers retired Rosario at the plate, but the attempt for a double play on Cooper at first went wide of the base and Harrod came around to score.
Jessica Warren made it 4-0 FSU with an RBI single to right field, extending her ACC-leading RBI total to 65.
FSU nearly added to its lead in the third inning with walks from Gordon and Rosario, as well as a double from Harrod, but the Noles were unable to bring across a run in the frame.
Florida State starting pitcher Meghan King retired 13 of the first 14 batters she faced allowing only one baserunner through the first 4.1 innings on a single from Giorgiana Zeremenko in the second inning.
Pitt threatened in the fifth inning as a double by Erin Hershman and walks to Ashlee Sills and Kaitlyn Manuel loaded the bases with one out. King battled back with a strikeout of Olivia Gray for the second out of the inning and got out of the jam on a pop out to first by Shelby Pickett to maintain the 4-0 FSU lead.
The Seminoles added a run in the bottom of the fifth on an RBI single by Gordon. Broderick hit a one-out single, stole second and came around to score on Gordon’s single up the middle.
The inning continued as Victoria East was hit by a pitch and Harrod walked to load the bases. Cooper nearly ended the game with a deep ball to right center, but it was caught at the warning track to end the inning.
Broderick closed out the game with a three-run home run to left center in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 8-0 victory. She drove in Powers and Alex Kossoff, who pinch ran for Zoe Casas, who had singled earlier in the inning.
King improved to 21-3 after the complete-game shutout. The redshirt freshman allowed just three hits and two walks and recorded three strikeouts for her sixth solo shutout of the season.
Florida State will play in Friday’s first semifinal game at 1:00 p.m. against the winner of BC and UNC. The game will be broadcast on the Regional Sports Networks (RSN) and ESPN3, with Tom Werme and Cheri Kempf on the call and former FSU softball player Lacey Waldrop working as the sideline reporter. Saturday’s championship game at 2:00 p.m. on May 14 will be broadcast on ESPN.
Each Florida State game of the tournament will also be broadcast on Seminole Softball Radio on Seminoles.com with Robin Ahrberg and Marra Hvozdovic giving the play-by-play. Live stats will also be available on TheACC.com.
Daily tickets are available for $5 for adults and $3 for youth 18 and under, while tournament passes are available in advance of the tournament for $9. Students from an ACC school can enter for free with valid student identification. Tickets can be purchased online at http://theacc.co/sb16tix
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