The Seminoles advance to Friday’s 1 p.m. semifinal
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ATLANTA, Ga. (theACC.com) – Top-seeded Florida State erased a 3-0 deficit to come back and top No. 8 seed Louisville, 7-4, in the first quarterfinal of the 2018 ACC Softball Championship on Thursday.
Louisville shortstop Sydney Melton started things off with a bang, cranking the opening pitch over the right field fence for a solo home run.
After the Cardinals loaded the bases in the top of the second, Kylee Hanson, the ACC Pitcher of the Year, was replaced by Meghan King. Despite the change, Louisville extended its lead to 3-0 after Allison Szydlowski drove center fielder Nicole Pufahl home with a fielder’s choice to third base, and Melton was walked with the bases loaded, allowing Blaire Bass to score.
The ACC Freshman of the Year, Sydney Sherrill, put Florida State on the board with a two-run shot to center field in the bottom of the third, making the score 3-2 in favor of the Cardinals.
The Seminoles continued to rally in the bottom of the fourth, scoring four runs after Louisville made a pitching change, pulling Megan Hensley for Danielle Watson. With the bases loaded, Anna Shelnutt lined out to right field, but allowed Elizabeth Mason to score from third base. Cali Harrod scored on a throwing error to first, and Carsyn Gordon drove ACC Player of the Year Jessie Warren home with an RBI single. A fielding error by Maddy Newman allowed Gordon to score, giving Florida State a 6-3 lead to close out the inning.
The Seminoles tacked on a seventh score in the bottom of the fifth with Shelnutt’s solo home run to left field.
Louisville’s Szydlowski ended Florida State’s scoring run after reaching on a fielder’s choice and knocking in Pufahl, making the score 7-4 in favor of the Seminoles at the top of the sixth.
King earned the win in the circle for the Seminoles, striking out three while allowing three hits, one run and zero earned.
Florida State now awaits the winner of No. 5 Notre Dame and No. 4 Boston College in Friday’s 1 p.m. semifinal.
ACC fans will be able to watch all nine games of the championship as Wednesday’s, Thursday’s and Friday’s contests will be televised by the league’s Regional Sports Networks, and Saturday’s title game will be carried live on ESPN.
Louisville Quote
Opening statement from head coach Sandy Pearsall:
“We came out, did exactly what we needed to do and got a three-run lead. We were playing very well and then in the fourth inning, we made mistakes. You just can’t make mistakes against a great team like Florida State. If we don’t make those mistakes, we have a chance of winning that game, but the errors set us back and we just couldn’t overcome that. What I did like was that we kept fighting, scored again and got runners on base and never gave up.”