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Several FSU spring sport programs are eyeing national titles as they march through the postseason. Let’s recap the action from this past week and look ahead to what's next.
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What happened this week in FSU sports?
* Both the men's and women's track and field squads for Florida State are heavily involved in NCAA postseason action in Jacksonville. Held on North Florida's campus, the men competed on Wednesday with the women following suit on Thursday in the NCAA East Preliminaries. Six FSU men's athletes have put themselves in position to qualify for nationals. The women also fared well, with junior Jayla Kirkland among those who qualified and punched their tickets to nationals.
* Florida State women’s golf finished ninth Monday at the NCAA Championship Finals, ending its season. FSU barely missed the cut down to eight teams by a single stroke. First-team All-American Beatrice Wallin was the low scorer for the garnet and gold, finishing tied for ninth individually with a total of 288.
* Florida State softball took down LSU, 1-0, in Baton Rouge in game one of a best-of-three Super Regional series Thursday night. The usual suspects propelled FSU to victory during the ESPN prime-time matchup. ACC Defensive Player of the Year Sydney Sherrill made several big plays in the field and scored the game’s only run in the sixth. Meanwhile, redshirt sophomore pitcher Kathryn Sandercock dazzled once again with a complete-game shutout on 86 pitches. Sandercock allowed just two hits and one walk in the commanding outing. Game Two is Friday at 7 p.m. (ESPN2), while Game Three will be played Saturday if necessary. Florida State is one win away from advancing to the Women's College World Series.
***READ MORE: FSU softball team takes Game 1 of Super Regional against LSU, 1-0***
This week in FSU history
* On May 24, 2015: Florida State's baseball team won its sixth ACC Tournament title in with a resounding 6-2 victory over N.C. State. Second baseman John Sansone delivered a three-run homer in the win.
* On May 25, 2002: FSU Baseball took home its third ACC Tournament championship behind shortstop Stephen Drew’s 3-for-4 day at the plate. Drew also homered early in the game in the third inning. FSU starting pitcher Mark LaMacchia lasted eight innings, allowing one run in the 4-1 triumph over Clemson.
’Nole Trivia
Florida State has fielded some of the greatest defenses in college football history.
In 1980, senior noseguard Ron Simmons led a unit that returned four other Seminoles who would earn All-America honors on the way to a 10-2 season and Orange Bowl berth. In 1997, FSU (11-1) featured stars like Tay Cody, Sam Cowart, Andre Wadsworth and several other greats. And of course, the defense behind 2013’s 14-0 undefeated championship season cannot be overlooked either.
Here’s the question: Which of those three hallowed Florida State defenses (1980, 1997, or 2013) allowed the fewest points per-game?
* If you know the answer, post it here on the Tribal Council.
What to watch for next week
FSU Baseball will learn its postseason fate Monday at noon during the NCAA’s Selection Show. The field of 64 will be announced live on ESPN2. FSU will be placed within one of the 16 host regional sites and will likely be a No. 2 seed.
The No. 1 seed FSU men’s golf team will wrap up the NCAA Championship Finals in Scottsdale, Ariz., on Monday through Wednesday. The field will be cut down to 15 teams on Sunday, and 8 on Monday. Depending on how the action shakes out this weekend, John Pak and FSU may be in the hunt for the program’s first-ever national title in the final three days of the event.
If FSU Softball can win one of the next two games versus LSU, the Seminoles will advance to their 11th World Series in program history. It also would be their fourth trip in the past seven seasons. The Women's CWS gets under way on Thursday.
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Talk about this story with other Florida State sports fans in the Tribal Council.