TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – True freshman Stephanie Gonzalez's seventh-inning, pinch-hit home run puled he University of South Alabama softball team to within a run, but fifth-ranked Florida State held on to pick up a 4-3 victory Wednesday afternoon at JoAnne Graf Field.
UP NEXT
- South Alabama (1-4) will continue it's swing through the Sunshine State with four games over the weekend at THE Spring Games in Leesburg, Fla. The Jaguars will play a pair of games on Friday: No. 14 Missouri (10 am) and Ohio State (12:30 pm), and then face Butler (3 pm) on Saturday and (RV) Liberty (8 am) on Sunday at the Sleepy Hollow Sports Complex. All times listed are Central.
Date: 2/16
Place: JoAnne Graf Field (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Final Score: No. 5 Florida State 4, South Alabama 3
Records: Florida State (5-0), South Alabama (1-4)
Pitchers of Record: WP – Kathryn Sandercock (2-0) SV – Emma Watson (1) LP – Jenna Hardy (0-2)
Home Runs: USA: Stephanie Gonzalez (1)
SCORING
- FSU (1st Inn.) | Sydney Sherrill singles through right side of infield, 2 RBI; Kaley Mudge scored from third, Kalei Harding scored from second (0-2, 2 out)
- FSU (3rd Inn.) | Harding singled to right field, RBI; Mudge scored from third (0-3, 2 out)
- USA (4th Inn.) | Kennedy Cronan sacrifice fly to left, RBI; Caroline Nichols scored from third (1-3, 1 out)
- FSU (4th Inn.) | Devyn Flaherty singled to left, RBI; pinch runner D'Aun Riggs scored from third (1-4, 0 out)
- USA (7th Inn.) | Gonzalez pinch-hit home run to center, 2 RBI; Belle Wolfenden scored from third (3-4, 2 out)
GAME FACTS
- Florida State recorded three of its six stolen bases in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs on one hit and a pair of one-out walks.
- Sandercock needed just five pitches to retire the side in the second inning and threw 16 strikes in her first 18 pitches, while retiring the Jags in order each of the first three innings.
- Three of FSU's four runs came with two outs.
- Nichols' walk to lead off the top of the fourth was the first base runner allowed by Sandercock. Abby Allen followed with a double in the right center gap for South's first hit of the contest.
- Olivia Lackie was able to get Mack Leonard swinging to end the bottom of the fourth and leave the bases loaded, limiting FSU to one run in the inning.
- Gonzalez brought South within a run when she blasted a 1-0 pitch high over the wall in center.
NOTES
- Wednesday marked the 12th all-time meeting in the series versus the Seminoles and the first between the two clubs since 2019.
- FSU has been ranked inside the top 10 in each of the last four series meetings, and inside the top 25 the last nine.
- The meeting was one of two scheduled for the Jaguars in 2022 against an Atlantic Coast Conference opponent as they will face Virginia on March 4 at the Tennessee Invitational in Knoxville, Tenn.
- With her walk to lead off the South Alabama fourth, Nichols extended her reached base safely streak to 10 straight, which dates back to last season
- With her sixth-inning single, Nichols extended her current hit streak to seven games, which dates back to last season. She has had at least one hit in eight of her last nine outings and is the only Jag to have a hit in all five games this spring.
- Nichols stole her third base of the year and the 16th of her career. She is now 16-for-19 in her Jaguar career in the category.
- South's run in the top of the fourth inning marked the first earned run and just the third run overall allowed by the Seminole pitching staff as they had not allowed a run through the first 27.1 innings of work this spring.
- With Wolfenden's seventh-inning triple, South Alabama has recorded one in three of its first five games in 2022. As a team, USA had six triples last spring.
- The pinch-hit home run by Gonzalez was the first long ball of her collegiate career.
- It was also the first pinch-hit home run for South since Victoria Ortiz's three-run shot on Feb. 23, 2019 against Stephen F. Austin in Mobile, and the first road pinch-hit home run since Dayla Gulledge's three-run homer at ULM on April 22, 2017.
- Florida State has been credited with just four stolen bases through its first four games, but stole six against the Jaguars.
THEY SAID IT
Head coach Becky Clark
- On the game:
"I would have liked to see us more aggressive early on. We picked it up the second time through the lineup and were able to get on the board. Jenna [Hardy] gave us a solid start and Liv [Olivia Lackie] came in and did her job. It was good to get the production off of the bench from [Stephanie] Gonzalez. That is a huge opportunity for a freshman to come into and she made the most of it."
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
Join the Bullpen Club, the softball specific support club of the Jaguar Athletic Fund. Members have access to purchase parking passes and receive Jaguar Softball gear. All donations to the Bullpen Club go directly to support the South Alabama softball program. For more information on how you can join visit: jaguarathleticfund.com/bullpenclub.
—USA—
