TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Behind a combined one-hitter in the circle by Jessica Burroughs and Meghan King, No. 4 Florida State (52-6-1) earned a 3-0 win over Princeton (25-19) in the opening round of the NCAA Tallahassee Regional on Friday night at JoAnne Graf Field.
The Seminoles had eight hits on the night, with six of them going for extra bases on four doubles, a triple and a home run. The Florida State catchers had a day both at and behind the plate as Sydney Broderick had a double and a solo home run, while Anna Shelnutt doubled and tripled in the win.
It marked the 11th straight win for Florida State in the regional round of the NCAA Tournament, as the Noles have outscored their opponents 32-5 dating back to the 2014 season.
“Always nice to get the first win under your belt,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “She (Princeton pitcher Claire Klausner) was spinning it up a little bit today and making the ball move. You know we got some good swings off and had some good pitching in the circle. It's just nice to get that first win of the weekend.”
The Tigers threatened right out of the gate, getting the first two batters of the game on base after an FSU error along with their only base hit coming on an infield single Kylee Pierce. A fly out and a groundout moved the runners up to second and third with two outs, and Princeton's Kaylee Grant was hit by a pitch to load the bases. FSU's Burroughs ended the inning with a strikeout to maintain the scoreless game.
The Noles used a pair of doubles in the bottom of the second inning to take a 1-0 lead. Broderick led off with a ball off the centerfield wall, while Shelnutt added one of her own to put FSU on top in the early going.
Shelnutt hit her second extra-base hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth, a two-out triple to right, but was left on base after a pop out.
FSU added a run in the bottom of the fifth as Morgan Klaevemann led off with a four-pitch walk and immediately stole second base. She scored after Alex Powers singled to right and the pair of Seminoles executed a first-and-third play, extending FSU's lead to 2-0.
Broderick made it a 3-0 game with a solo home run in the sixth inning, her fifth of the season, and Dani Morgan continued the inning with a double down the left field line. Korina Rosario hit a single up the middle that was stopped on a diving attempt by the Princeton second baseman Haley Hineman, and Morgan attempted to score on the play, but was thrown out at the plate to end the inning.
Burroughs retired 16 batters in a row before giving way to Meghan King to close out the seventh inning for her third save of the season, setting down all three hitters she faced. Burroughs (26-4) recorded eight strikeouts and zero walks in 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit.
The Seminoles will advance in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional to play No. 25 Georgia (34-21) in the winner's bracket game at 12:00 p.m. on Saturday, May 20. The winner of that game will play in Sunday's regional championship game at 12:00 p.m., while the loser will play again at 5:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Saturday's game will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks, with the specific channel determined after the end of all NCAA Regional games on Friday. Links for FSU Softball radio and live stats will be available on Seminoles.com.
Standing-room only tickets are still available for the rest of the weekend and can be purchased at the walk-up ticket booth at JoAnne Graf Field. Single game tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for youth and seniors. All general admission seats have been sold out for the weekend.
The FSU Clear Bag policy will be in effect for all NCAA postseason events at JoAnne Graf Field. Fans are allowed items that can fit in one 12”x12” clear tote bag or a small 4.5”x6.5” clutch or purse. Items that are not allowed include camera or binocular cases, backpacks, printed pattern bags or any size tote or mesh bags.
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.
