TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Entering the game with the ACC’s best slugging percentage of .525, No. 14 Florida State (27-6, 7-0 ACC) put that power on display Friday night, smashing eight extra-base hits en route to a 13-2 victory in five innings over Georgia Tech (19-13, 5-2 ACC).
Sydney Sherrill hit a pair of doubles to increase her season total to 14, which is tied for the most in the NCAA entering the weekend. Through just 33 games of the season, Sherrill’s 14 doubles now sits in a tie for 10th place in FSU single-season history.
Jessie Warren launched a three-run home run in the fourth inning, her 10th HR of the season and the 72nd of her career, moving into a tie for 17th in NCAA history with Hawaii’s Kelly Maja (2010-13).
The win also extended Florida State’s ACC winning streak to 33 games, which is tied with Princeton (1993-96) for the seventh-longest conference winning streak in NCAA history.
The Seminoles tallied nine of their 13 runs with two outs on Friday night, and now have 79 RBI this season in the final out of the inning.
“We talk about staying present and executing and we did a great job of that tonight,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “We took advantage of some early opportunities offensively, and battled for a few good two-out hits. Pleased with how we continued to put the pressure on throughout the game and finish well. Looking forward to another challenge tomorrow.”
The Seminoles got on the board early, plating four runs in the top of the first inning, all with two outs. Cali Harrod opened the game with a double to center and Warren later drew a walk. Elizabeth Mason drove in the game’s first run on an RBI single to center, and Zoe Casas hit her first home run of the season to make it 4-0 Seminoles.
After FSU starter Kylee Hanson began the Georgia Tech first inning with a pair of strikeouts, Rebecca Prairie got a run back for the Jackets with a solo home run to left field, cutting the lead to 4-1. Hanson ended the inning with another strikeout.
Leslie Farris led off the second inning with a bunt single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt, tagged up to third on a fly out to center and scored on a Georgia Tech fielding error. Sherrill hit her first double of the game to left field, scoring Gordon for a 6-1 FSU lead.
Morgan Klaevemann hit a single to left to lead off the FSU fourth inning and was pinch-run for by Korina Rosario. A walk to Gordon set the table for Sherrill to hit her second double of the game, easily scoring Rosario from second base. Warren followed with her 10th home run of the season to make it a 10-1 ballgame.
Casas hit a two-out single to right and ended up on second after a GT throwing error. Anna Shelnutt knocked a double to center to score Casas, and Farris hit her second home run of the season to make it a 13-1 FSU advantage.
Savanna Copeland came in to pitch the Georgia Tech fourth inning, ending Hanson’s day in the circle. The redshirt senior improved to 15-3 on the season after allowing just two hits and one run with zero walks and five strikeouts in 3.0 innings.
Copeland retired the first five Jackets she faced, but a two-out single in the fifth inning by Kaylee Ellebracht sparked GT to score their second run of the game. Kelsey Chisholm walked and Cameron Stanford hit an RBI double to center. Copeland induced a groundout to second base to end the game at 13-2.
The FSU-GT series continues on Saturday, March 31 at 1:00 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ACC Network Extra. Broadcast links for video, FSU softball radio and live stats will be available on the softball schedule page of Seminoles.com.
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