AUBURN, Ala. – Picking up the highest-ranked win at Florida State under head coach Lonni Alameda, No. 8/7 Florida State (35-5) earned a doubleheader split on the road at No. 3/2 Auburn (42-5) on Wednesday night. Auburn won game one by a score of 9-6, scoring all nine runs with two outs. The Noles defeated the Tigers in game two, 4-3, as all four RBI were driven in by freshmen, as well as three of the four runs scored.
“Extremely excited about the entire team coming together tonight – it took everybody,” said Alameda. “Auburn is a good squad and our hitters stuck to their game plans and put good swings on pitches. The bottom of the lineup came up big for us and there were a lot of big situations that we capitalized on.
“I think we learned a lot about ourselves as a team and grew in a bunch of ways today. King through a great game and all in all, I’m just really proud of the growth of the program and looking forward to Virginia Tech this weekend.”
GAME ONE – Auburn 9, Florida State 6
Florida State got out to an early lead in game one, taking a 1-0 lead after a sacrifice fly by Jessica Warren. Morgan Klaevemann and Ellie Cooper opened the inning with bunt singles and a fielder’s choice by Alex Powers put runners on the corners for Warren.
Auburn threatened in the bottom of the first, getting a pair of runners on with one out on walks by Tiffany Howard and Kasey Cooper. The Seminoles were able to get out of the inning on a double play as Cooper fielded a ground ball, flipped to Cali Harrod who fired to first to end the inning.
The Tigers got on the board in the second inning as a two-out, two-RBI single by Howard gave Auburn a 2-1 lead. Later in the inning a two-RBI single by Cooper gave the Tigers a 4-1 lead, but the inning ended on the play as Emily Carosone tried to take third on Klaevemann’s throw to the plate and Sydney Broderick tossed to Warren for the third out.
FSU tied the game at 4-4 in top of the third, highlighted by RBI singles by Broderick and Zoe Casas. Klaevemann started the inning with a walk and came into score on a single to left by Cooper that was misplayed by Auburn’s Howard.
The Noles went up 5-4 in the fourth on another single by Cooper and another Auburn fielding error. After a single and stolen base by Harrod and a walk to Klaevemann, Cooper dropped a bunt single to the pitcher and the throw to first was wild, allowing Harrod to score from second.
Auburn went back in front on a three-run home run by Carosone in the bottom of the fourth, as Courtney Shea and Victoria Draper walked earlier in the inning.
The Tigers brought in two more runs in the bottom of the sixth, both on FSU fielding errors with two outs to extend their lead to 9-5.
Florida State got a run back in the top of the seventh on a solo home run from Warren on a 14-pitch at bat to make it 9-6, but the Noles were unable to bring in any additional runs against Auburn’s Rachael Walters. Walters entered the game in the third inning to relieve starter Kaylee Carlson, who allowed four runs on six hits in 2.1 innings.
Walters closed out the game for the Tigers and moved to 8-2 on the year, giving up two runs on three hits in 4.2 innings, with three walks and six strikeouts.
FSU’s Jessica Burroughs (20-3) took the loss, giving up nine runs, seven earned on six hits with seven walks and three strikeouts.
GAME TWO – Florida State 4, Auburn 3
Auburn took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first of game two, single-handedly off the bat and feet of Carosone. The AU second baseman hit a one-out double to left field and then during the next at bat, made a delayed steal of third and scored as the throw to third base was in the dirt and bounced away from Warren.
The Seminoles tied the game in the top of the third behind some nice situational hitting as Harrod opened the inning with a single up the middle. After a stolen base, Harrod moved to third on a bunt single on a 1-2 count by Alex Kossoff. Carsyn Gordon drove in her 29th run of the season on a fielder’s choice to tie the game at 1-1.
FSU took a 2-1 lead in the top of the fifth, using nearly identical situations as its scoring opportunity in the third. Harrod got things started with a single and Kossoff followed with a bunt single that refused to go foul, spinning on the chalk down the third base line. Gordon followed with her second RBI of the game, driving a single through the right side to score Harrod and give the Noles a 2-1 lead.
Auburn almost tied the game in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases on singles by Whitney Jordan and Carosone, as well as a walk to Cooper. FSU starter Meghan King got out of the inning with a three-pitch strikeout of Jade Rhodes.
The Noles added to their lead in the sixth inning as Casas hit her second home run of the season, a two-run shot to left center to extend FSU’s lead to 4-1. Bella D’Errico scored on the play, pinch-running for Broderick after she drew a two-out walk.
Auburn cut the Seminole lead to 4-3 in the bottom of the sixth on a two-run home run by Madi Gipson.
After a scoreless seventh for FSU, the Tigers got the leadoff runner on second after a single to left and an FSU fielding error. King got the next three batters to fly out to secure the ranked road win. King (15-2) scattered seven hits over 7.0 innings, giving up three runs, two earned with three walks and three strikeouts.
Florida State returns home for a three-game ACC series this weekend against Virginia Tech on April 23-24. Saturday’s doubleheader at JoAnne Graf Field will begin at 4:00 p.m., with Sunday’s finale starting at 12:00 p.m. A live radio stream, along with live stats, will be available for all three games on Seminoles.com.
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