COLUMBIA, S.C. – Dropping its second road game in a row, No. 1 Florida State (38-3-1) fell to South Carolina (24-18) by a score of 7-2 on Friday night at CSS Stadium at Beckham Field.
“Early in the game, we had a lot of at-‘em balls, and we were striking the ball well today,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “And then they jump on the board and we weren’t able to create anything after that. Our kids fought hard and I’m proud of them. That’s what these games are for, to build our character and now we just have to bounce back tomorrow.”
The Seminoles got on the board in the second inning, taking an early 1-0 lead on the Gamecocks. Cali Harrod led off with a walk and stole second on the first pitch to Ellie Cooper. The throw was off-line and bounced off Harrod and went into centerfield, rolling all the way to the warning track, allowing Harrod to score on the play.
Carsyn Gordon laced her fourth triple of the season to right field and Anna Shelnutt put Seminole runners on the corners with a four-pitch walk. Morgan Klaevemann later reached on a fielder’s choice, as Gordon was retired at home.
South Carolina posted two hits in the bottom of the second inning, getting runners to second and third with two outs before Seminole starter Jessica Burroughs ended the threat with a strikeout.
The Gamecocks got the first two hitters on base in the fourth inning with a hit-by-pitch and a single, and a one-out home run by Tiara Duffy gave South Carolina a 3-1 lead.
Following a double by Cayla Drotar, FSU’s Meghan King entered the game to pitch for Burroughs. Back-to-back singles, as well as a sacrifice fly gave the Gamecocks a 5-1 lead after four complete innings.
The Noles got a run back in the top of the fifth as Klaevemann opened the inning with a single, but was retired on a fielder’s choice by Dani Morgan. A single by Jessica Warren and a hit-by-pitch to Sydney Broderick loaded the bases, and Alex Powers cut the lead to 5-2 with a sacrifice fly to right field. Harrod walked on four pitches to reload the bases, but a ground out left them stranded.
South Carolina quickly pushed its lead back out to 7-2 with a leadoff single in the fifth inning, followed by a two-run home run by Alyssa Vanderveer, prompting an FSU pitching change to bring in Cassidy Davis.
SC continued the inning getting a runner on base with an FSU fielding error, but a 5-4-3 double play sent her back to the dugout. After a pair of hits, Davis got out of the inning with no additional damage with a groundout.
The Noles got one runner each on base in the sixth and the seventh innings on a walk by Gordon and a hit-by-pitch to Warren, but were unable to push them in to score.
Burroughs (20-2) picked up her second loss of the year, allowing four runs on five hits with two strikeouts and zero walks over 3.1 innings. King tossed 0.2 innings of relief, surrendering three runs on four hits, while Davis pitched the final 2.0 innings of the game, walking one and allowing three hits.
The Noles and Gamecocks will wrap up the two-game series on Saturday, April 15, with first pitch coming at 1:00 p.m. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network+, while links for live stats and FSU Softball radio will be available on Seminoles.com.
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