(Photo Courtesy of Florida State Athletics)
AUBURN, Ala. – The No. 9-ranked Florida State softball team took down their second ranked team of 2014 as they defeated No. 25 Auburn, 5-4, on February 26. It marked the second time this season and 20th time under head coach Lonni Alameda that the Seminoles have taken down a ranked team.
“It was a chilly night on the road against a quality opponent. I was really proud with how our team took on the challenge and came out with a win. We had some adversity in the fourth but the team stayed focused. Lacey once again was great for us in the circle and helped set the tone that the rest of the team followed.”
The `Noles plated four runs in the second as Victoria East led off with a single. A walk from Ellie Cooper and a single by Alex Kossoff would load the bases. Tiffani Brown shot an RBI fielder’s choice to second base and Courtney Senas’ second walk of the game would load the bases for Maddie O’Brien.
O’Brien would take a 3-1 pitch back up the box that would nearly make it to the wall, scoring all three runs to break it out to 4-0 Florida State after two innings.
FSU would push across another run in the third inning as Cooper dropped in a single to center to score Lauren Harris who pinch ran after a Bailey Schinella single.
Lacey Waldrop (8-1) pitched another great game for Florida State, not giving up a hit until the fourth inning when the leadoff batter Jenna Abbott hit a home run over the fence in right. The Tigers would score three more runs in the inning, zero earned, after a couple of hits, a walk and a Seminole throwing error.
The Tigers would threaten in the bottom of the sixth getting the bases loaded with one away, but Brown made a great snag of a Emily Carosone line drive back up the box and fired over to Cooper to complete the double play and end the inning.
Waldrop finished with 7.0 innings, six hits, with four runs, one earned, with four walks and eight strikeouts to get the complete game victory.
Florida State now heads to Tuscaloosa, Ala. for the Easton Crimson Classic from Feb. 28 to March 2. Houston and Purdue will join host school Alabama in the three day tournament. FSU will play two games on Friday, starting at 11:00 a.m. CT against Houston and again at 1:30 p.m. CT versus Purdue.
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