April 1, 2000

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – In its first Atlantic Coast Conference
series of the season, the Florida State softball team fell 2-1 and 8-2 to
Georgia Tech at the Seminole Softball Complex Saturday afternoon. The
losses put FSU at 28-19 overall and 0-2 in the ACC while Georgia Tech
improves to 20-22 and 2-2 in the league.

In game one, FSU’s Staci Brandon led off the first inning with a base hit
and with two out and the bases loaded, Brandi Stuart singled to center
field to drive her in, but that would be the Tribe’s only run production of
the game. On the mound, Leslie Malerich didn’t allow a base runner until
giving up a single to Tech’s Beth Warren in the fifth inning. However, in
the seventh inning, Tech made up for it. With two out, the Yellow Jackets
put together three hits and scored two runs to take the lead. After Kori
Jacobson and Warren each reached base with singles to opposite fields,
designated hitter Lacey Schanz hit a two-run single to shallow left field.
FSU went down in order in the bottom of the inning. The Lady Seminoles
outhit Georgia Tech 5-4, but stranded five base runners. Malerich falls to
17-10 while Tiffany Goodman improves her record to 10-12.

The Lady Seminoles committed seven errors while using all three of
their pitchers in game two. Florida State scored its first run in the
first inning as TETStaci Brandon led off the FSU first with a bunt single
and was sacrificed to second by Serita Brooks. With two out, Teresa
Edenfield hit a solid single to center to score Brandon. With the game
tied at 1-1, the Yellow Jackets broke things open in the third inning with
four runs off of four hits and Robyn Gauger relieved FSU starter Jenn
White-Stokes. Georgia Tech’s Anne Knobbe drove in a run with a single to
left field while Jacobson’s triple to right field scored two runs. The
Yellow Jackets had another big inning in the fifth with three runs,
however, all three were unearned as the FSU defense committed two errors in
the inning. FSU scored one more run in the sixth inning as pitcher Leslie
Malerich, who relieved Gauger in the fifth, drove in Kelly Miller who
reached on a walk. White-Stokes got the loss and goes to 10-8 on the year
while Georgia Tech’s Jamie Smith evens her record at 10-10.

“Obviously, we’re very disappointed with our performance today.”
FSU Head Coach Dr. JoAnne Graf said. “We weren’t able to get things going
offensively and then our pitching and defense broke down in the second
game. We’ll have to regroup quickly and come out solid tomorrow when we
host FIU.”

FSU will host Florida International on Sunday, April 2 in a
doubleheader beginning at Noon. The action will be aired live on Sunshine
Network.

GAME ONE

GA. TECH    000   000   2   2  4  0
FSU         100   000   0   1  5  1
WP - Tiffany Goodman (10-12), LP - Leslie Malerich (17-10)

GAME TWO

GA. TECH   104   030   0   8  9  0
FSU        100   000   0   2  9  7
WP - Jamie Smith (10-10), LP - Jenn White-Stokes (10-7)