TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Fifteen up, fifteen down in the first game of the day as Meghan King and Cassidy Davis combined to throw a perfect game in a 9-0 win by No. 9 Florida State (10-4) over Northern Iowa (9-4) to start the day. The Seminoles lost by a score of 3-0 in the night cap against host school No. 10 Alabama (8-1) in Friday action at the Easton Bama Bash.
It was the second perfect game under head coach Lonni Alameda and the first for Florida State since King’s 6.0-inning perfect game against Tulsa in Palo Alto, Calif., on March 12, 2016.
“Great team win in game one and really happy for Meghan and Cass,” said Alameda. “We were able to get out in front early and then executed in the circle and on defense to finish out the game. Against Alabama, we had the environment that we expected – a full house and an electric atmosphere with a veteran pitcher for them in the circle. While losing is never fun, seeing players stay focused and compete and continue working will help us not only when we face them again tomorrow, but throughout the rest of the season as well.”
Game 1: No. 9 Florida State 9, Northern Iowa 0 (5 innings)
Florida State quickly took a 2-0 lead in game one without posting an out as Cali Harrod opened the game with a four-pitch walk and Jessie Warren hit her sixth home run of the season to center field. The inning continued with a double from Sydney Sherrill, a single from Davis and an RBI bunt single by Morgan Klaevemann.
Elizabeth Mason followed with a single to load the bases and Anna Shelnutt’s single through the left side brought in two more runs for a 5-0 lead after the top of the first inning.
The Seminoles added four more in the second inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Davis. Sherrill added an RBI double in the inning and Warren also singled and Carsyn Gordon drew a walk.
The stars of the game resided in the circle for the combined perfect game by King and Davis. King (5-2) recorded four strikeouts over her 3.0 innings of work, including striking out the side in the second inning. FSU left fielder Dani Morgan made a nice catch at the wall with one out in the third to preserve the perfect game.
Davis entered to pitch the fourth and fifth innings, and ended the game with one strikeout. A low pop fly off the bat of UNI’s Kennedy Bailey seemed destined to drop for a hit in shallow center field, but Klaevemann made a diving grab to end the inning.
Game 2: No. 10 Alabama 3, No. 9 Florida State 0
Similar to the first game, Florida State got the first two batters on base with a Harrd single and a Warren walk, but both would be left stranded as the next three batters were retired.
Alabama led off the bottom of the first with a single up the middle by Elissa Brown, and a stolen base and a pair of groundouts were enough for her to score the first run of the game.
The Seminoles got a pair of runners on in the top of the fourth with a walk to Gordon and a single to left by Davis, but a fly out and groundout left them on base.
FSU starter Kylee Hanson settled in after the run in first, tossing 3.1 straight innings without allowing a hit, pitching around walks in the second and third inning, before a one-out single in the fourth by Peyton Grantham. Alabama extended its lead to 2-0 with a two-out RBI single to left by Reagan Dykes, before Hanson ended the inning with a strikeout.
A leadoff triple and a walk in the Alabama fifth ended Hanson’s day in the circle as Davis made her second pitching appearance of the day. The sophomore retired the first batter she faced with a strikeout, but loaded the bases with an intentional walk to Bailey Hemphill. The Tide added another run with a sacrifice fly to center by Gabby Callaway to make it 3-0 after five complete.
Sherrill opened the FSU sixth with a single to right, but the Noles couldn’t make anything of it.
Tessa Daniels pitched the final 0.2 innings of the game, allowing a lone hit.
The Seminoles are back in action with a pair of games on Saturday, February 24 at the Easton Bama Bash. Florida State will have a rematch with No. 10 Alabama at 5:00 p.m. ET, and finish the day against Georgia State at 7:00 p.m. ET.
Tickets are available at www.rolltide.com, and Saturday’s game between Florida State and Alabama will be broadcast on SEC Network+. Live stats for both games and a link for Seminole Softball Radio will be available on the schedule page of Seminoles.com.
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.
