Courtesy of Florida State Athletics
TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Seminoles.com) – The No. 3-ranked and No. 8-seeded Florida State Seminoles (54-7) used four home runs to blast their way into the winner-take-all game of the NCAA Tallahassee Super Regional with a 6-0 win over No. 13 Michigan (47-14) at JoAnne Graf Field on May 23.
“This family never quits,” said head coach Lonni Alameda. “We know that one pitch, one play can change the game and we didn’t get down after they kept us off the scoreboard for the first four innings. I love the fight of this team and look to carry this momentum into game three.”
Both teams had scoring chances in the first, as the Seminoles and Wolverines each placed two runners on in the opening frame but were unable to score a run.
Starters Lacey Waldrop for Florida State and Megan Betsa of Michigan settled in to toss scoreless innings until the fifth inning.
U-M’s Betsa (18-4) retired 11 in a row after allowing a base hit to Courtney Senas in the first. The Seminoles were finally able to get to the Michigan pitcher in the fifth as Bailey Schinella led off the inning with a walk and was pinch run for by Bella D’Errico. She would come into score on a towering home run later in the inning by Celeste Gomez.
That sparked a five-inning for the Seminoles as Maddie O’Brien added a two-run home run and Courtney Senasblasted a solo shot of her own. It marked the first time since April 9, 2006 that Florida State had hit three home runs in an inning.
Victoria East crushed a solo home run in the sixth inning to push FSU’s lead out to 6-0.
Waldrop (37-5) was superb in the circle tossing a complete-game shutout, her sixth of the season. She allowed just five hits without a walk and two strikeouts.
The Seminoles and the Wolverines will play a winner-take-all game at 7:00 p.m. on May 23 with Florida State as the home team. The game will air on ESPN.
