Softball Extends Winning Streak To 25 Games

PDF Box Scores: FSU d. Toledo 5-4 | FSU d. Louisiana Tech 4-0

ORLANDO, Fla. — Continuing its undefeated start to the season, No. 1 Florida State (19-0) extended its winning streak to 25 games after a 5-4 walk-off win against Toledo (5-8) and a 4-0 shutout of RV Louisiana Tech (15-4) on Saturday at the UCF Invitational.

The 25-game winning streak is tied for the fourth-longest winning streak in school history, matching the performance from the 1992 team from February 9 to March 18.

Sydney Sherrill hit three doubles on the day, two against Toledo and another versus Louisiana Tech, giving her 37 through her first 89 games of her career, which is tied with Courtney Senas for 10th in FSU history.

“We faced a lot of adversity today, but I was pleased with how the team fought and stayed focused,” said FSU head coach Lonni Alameda. “Toledo did a good job of keeping us off balance in the first game and took advantage of their opportunities. And Louisiana Tech is a strong team that will have a great season. Definitely a few things to work on in all facets of the game from today, but we’ll take a look at that before coming back out for two more games tomorrow.”

Game One: No. 1 Florida State 5, Toledo 4
For the eighth consecutive game, Florida State jumped out to an early lead against Toledo by scoring in the first inning as walks to Cali Harrod and Cassidy Davis, along with a hit by Sherrill, loaded the bases for Anna Shelnutt. The junior catcher hit an RBI ground out to shortstop to put the Noles in front 1-0.

The Seminoles added two more in the bottom of the second inning as Dani Morgan led off with a bunt single and stole second base. Morgan Noah drove her in with an RBI triple to right center and after a walk to Harrod, Noah scored on a double steal attempt by the Noles.

FSU starting pitcher Kathryn Sandercock faced the minimum until a two-out solo home run by Morgan Paaverud in the top of the third inning cut the Seminole lead to 3-1.

Florida State made it 4-1 after Shelnutt led off the third inning with a triple down the right field line and scored on an RBI groundout by Zoe Casas.

Toledo opened the top of the fourth inning with a pair of singles, and after a sacrifice bunt, brought in two runs on a single to right center by Brittney Davis. Davis moved to second on a groundout to third and scored on an RBI single by Bekah Yenrik to tie the game at 4-4.

A scoreless fourth inning by the Seminoles snapped a streak of eight consecutive innings with at least one run, dating back to February 23 against Lipscomb.

Davis came in to pitch for Sandercock in the fifth inning and retired nine of the 10 batters she faced without allowing a hit or a walk to pick up her first win of the season. Sandercock allowed four runs on six hits with zero walks and one strikeout over 4.0 innings in the no-decision.

The Seminoles earned the walk-off win in the bottom of the seventh as Sherrill led off with her second double of the game, a line drive to left center. She scored the game-winning run on an RBI double by Shelnutt, as she finished the game a home run short of the cycle.

Game Two: No. 1 Florida State 4, RV Louisiana Tech 0
The game between Florida State and Louisiana Tech started out as a pitcher’s duel between Meghan King and Preslee Gallaway as each team only got one runner to second base through the first four innings on doubles by La Tech’s Morgan Turkoly in the first and FSU’s Sherrill in the fourth.

Casas began the FSU fifth inning with a double to right field and was pinch-run for by Deja Bush. Morgan lined an RBI single to center to put the Seminoles up 1-0.

The Seminoles added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth, all with two outs, as singles by Sherrill and Elizabeth Mason put runners on and Casas drove an RBI single to left to make it 2-0 Noles. Morgan lined the first pitch of her at bat to right center, bringing in two more runs for the 4-0 final score.

King retired 16 of the final 17 batters she faced to improve to 9-0 on the season with the complete-game shutout. She allowed just three hits and zero walks with four strikeouts.

The Seminoles will continue the UCF Invitational on Sunday, March 3 with games against Dartmouth (12:00 p.m.) and UCF (2:30 p.m.). Only our game against UCF will have live video stream, and links for the broadcast, live stats and tickets will be available on the softball schedule page of Seminoles.com.

Fans can listen to the FSU softball coaching staff, head coach Lonni Alameda and assistant coaches Travis Wilson and Craig Snider, on their weekly podcast: Coaches and Coffee – The FSU Softball Podcast. Each week, the coaches talk about the current state of the Seminole softball team, chat about NCAA softball from around the country, and have a lot of fun along the way. The podcast can be found on iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, or directly at our website – fsusoftballpodcast.wordpress.com.

Throughout 2018-19, the Seminoles will be celebrating the 50th anniversary of women’s intercollegiate athletics at Florida State and there are many events and reunions planned for all women’s sports. Head to www.seminoles.com/50th/ for more information that will be updated throughout the year.

Follow Florida State softball on Twitter (@FSU_Softball) and Instagram (fsusoftball), and like our Facebook page (Facebook.com/FSUsoftball) to keep up to date with everything about Seminole softball.