Anna Shelnutt's college softball postseason experience is brief. Actually, it's all of two games. But in those games, she's made the sort of impact which gives reason to believe No. 4 Florida State could be formidable in the games to come.
Shelnutt's latest performance saw her go 2 for 3 Saturday with two home runs and three RBIs in FSU's 7-1 win over No. 25 Georgia in the NCAA Tallahassee Regional at JoAnne Graf Field. FSU (53-6-1) will have a chance to close out the regional at noon Saturday.
"I wanted to make a big impact for my team. I felt in my heart I worked hard to give it to my team," Shelnutt said. "I did not know how I was going to make an impact, whether it was catching or hitting. I know with my training, my teammates and my coaches, I was going to make an impact."
Shelnutt, so far, has excelled at both.
In FSU's 3-0 win over Princeton on Friday, she caught Jessica Burroughs' one-hitter while going 2 for 3 with what was the game-winning RBI.
A Georgia native, Shelnutt found ways to menace her home-state team Saturday. Her two-run home run in the second inning gave the Seminoles a 2-0 lead. FSU was up 3-0 when her second homer, a solo shot, pushed the lead to 4-0.
"The first [home run], I had to kind of sit back because it felt like the [contact] I had yesterday, which bounced off the ball," Shelnutt said. "But the second one, I kinda knew coming off. It felt really good."
Georgia (34-22) got seven hits off starter Meghan King but could never get anything going until it scored a run in the top of the seventh. King, who went 6 2/3 innings, struck out eight and walked one batter. Freshman pitcher Cassidy Davis grabbed the final out on two pitches.
"I think Anna has done an amazing job behind the plate," said King, a redshirt sophomore who improves to 26-2 on the season. "You could just see her confidence grow from in the fall to now. I feel completely comfortable having her back there."
In her last 18 innings of play, Shelnutt is batting .667 with two home runs and four RBIs and has played a part in managing a pitching staff that has allowed one unearned run.
Shelnutt came into the Tallahassee Regional hitting .273 with three home runs and 13 RBIs. But she showed signs of a potential breakout when she recorded seven RBIs against Virginia in the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament on May 11.
Her role began to increase when senior catcher Sydney Broderick got injured. Shelnutt's progress was so strong, it prompted Seminoles coach Lonni Alameda to keep Shelnutt behind the plate and Broderick as the team's designated player.
"I think every freshman, when you go recruiting freshmen, you want them to grow and flourish and wherever they can fit in, they're going to fit in," Alameda said. "There's no one person behind another on this team, and we preach that on Day One. Syd was never behind Anna and Anna was never behind Syd. It was whatever worked for us.
"Obviously, when injuries come, because it happens in a season, you want people ready to jump into that role."
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