6/3/2023 other sports Edit

FSU softball outlasts Washington to advance to Women's CWS Semifinals

Curt Weiler • TheOsceola

Senior Writer

The Florida State softball team made some history Saturday night.

The third-seeded Seminoles followed up Thursday's 8-0 run-rule win over sixth-seeded Oklahoma State with a 3-1 win over No. 7 seed Washington Saturday night at Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

It's the first time in FSU's 12 trips to the Women's College World Series that the Seminoles have won each of their first two games to advance to the WCWS Semifinals the easy way.

"What a great ballgame. Washington is a great ballclub. Knew it was going to be gritty. That was so much fun to be a part of. Of course, (being) on the winning side of it is super fun," FSU head coach Lonni Alameda said. "Couldn't be more proud of our team and the fight. Kat (Sandercock) has been a rockstar for us. To see the momentum building in the defense, incredible plays. Inspiring and motivating. Just really proud of them."

As the score would indicate, the second game was far more stressful for the Seminoles than the first one.

Trailing 3-1 in the seventh inning, Washington put the first two batters of the game on base with a pair of singles. After Kathryn Sandercock got a flyout to left, FSU shortstop Josie Muffley ended the game with an incredible one-handed leaping catch which started a game-ending double play.

"I was going to do everything I could do for my pitcher," Muffley said in a postgame interview on the television broadcast.

This came after FSU similarly escaped a jam in the sixth inning. Washington was blanked through the first five innings before it finally got on the board in the sixth inning off Sandercock on a single to left by Kelley Lynch, cutting the Seminoles' lead to 2-1.

The Huskies then put the tying run 60 feet away on third base with two outs and FSU elected to put the go-ahead run on first base with an intentional walk. As she has so many times, though, Sandercock excelled under pressure, getting a groundout to second to strand the runners and preserve the lead.

FSU added one insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, padding its lead with a run generated on the basepaths. Devyn Flaherty led off with a single to center, stole second and came in to score on an excellent bunt by Mack Leonard which led to a throwing error by the Washington pitcher.

"We talk about momentum a lot. I think we really felt like momentum was kind of swinging to their side," Flaherty said, "Going up there, having a team at-bat, we weren't adjusting great, me included. So just trying to get a good pitch and get on top of something. I know my speed plays, just being out there for my team, get an extra insurance run."

Sandercock didn't start the game. That honor went to freshman pitcher Makenna Reid, who was making her fourth start of the season. Reid allowed one hit and one walk over 1.1 scoreless innings.

However, it always seemed the case that Sandercock was going to take the bulk of the innings for the Seminoles Saturday night with a spot in the semifinals on the line.

Sandercock escaped a bases-loaded jam in the second inning and retired a stretch of nine straight UW batters between the third and fifth innings as she hit her groove. With another strong outing, Sandercock has now allowed three runs over 32 innings in the NCAA Tournament.

"Being a groundball pitcher, knowing I'm always one pitch away from a double play, relying on my team, the defense, the experience I've had for five years, all the mental game we work on, the long days at practice," Sandercock said. "Just everything that we put in is why we do what we do, so we can succeed here. Just having trust in that and focusing on executing one pitch.

Washington stranded eight runners in the close loss, hitting 3 for 16 (.188) with runners on base and 1 for 7 (.143) with runners in scoring position.

As it turned out, the second inning marked the difference in the game. While Washington stranded the bases loaded, the Seminoles plated two runs in their bases-loaded opportunity. The Seminoles' second inning started on a double by Flaherty, who came in to score on a bouncing single to left by Josie Muffley with the bases loaded.

The very next at-bat, Kaley Mudge made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly to left field which scored Mack Leonard.

Up Next

With the win, FSU is through to the WCWS Semifinals for the third straight trip.

The Seminoles again get an off day Sunday before their Semifinals begin Monday night at 7 p.m., where either Oklahoma State or Tennessee will have to beat the Seminoles twice while FSU needs just one win to advance to the WCWS Championship Series.