No. 3 Florida State proved to be too much for No. 22 Virginia Tech on Friday, run-ruling the Hokies 9-1 in six innings in the semifinals of the ACC tournament. It was Tech’s fourth loss to the Seminoles in the last three weeks.
“Florida State is as good as anyone in the country,” Tech head coach Pete D’Amour told Tech Sideline. “They’re talented, and they just don’t make many mistakes.”
For all practical purposes, this one was over early. The Seminoles (49-8) jumped on the Hokies (37-18) and starter Lyndsey Grein very early. In the first inning, singles from Kaley Mudge and Jahni Kerr set the stage for a two-run double by Kalei Harding. After a strikeout, Mack Leonard doubled Harding home. A RBI single from Devyn Flaherty two batters later drove Harding home with FSU’s fifth hit of the inning. And like that, the Noles led 4-0 after one.
In the second inning, two errors from the Hokies kept the inning alive for FSU and Harding made them pay with a two-run blast to left field, pushing the lead to 6-0. Molly Jacobson relieved Grein at that point and shut down the Noles until the sixth inning. Consecutive doubles from Josie Muffley, Mudge and Kerr scored two runs and a grounder by Michaela Edenfield plated Kerr, the run-rule winner.
Meanwhile, FSU ace Kathryn Sandercock showed why she is one of the top pitchers in the country, holding the Hokies to three hits while striking out six.
“Sandercock hits corners,” D’Amour explained. “She never throws the ball over the heart of the plate. Opponents are hitting .176 against her. She’s one of the best pitchers in the country this year.”
The Hokies’ lone run came on a solo shot from Addy Greene, her 14th bomb of the season. The blast was the team’s 97th of the year, tying single-season program record set in 2019.
The loss sent the Hokies back to Blacksburg to await Sunday night’s NCAA tournament selection. After a number of players were ill this week, it’ll provide an opportunity to get well.
“We’ll take tomorrow off and get back at it Sunday,” D’Amour said, “and then we’ll find out our regional plans for next weekend.”
The NCAA softball championship field of 64 will be revealed on Sunday night at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.
Box Score: No. 3 Florida State 9, No. 22 Virginia Tech 1 (Six innings)
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All true, but it IS pretty cool leading the nation in HRs!
Softball and baseball teams very similar. Very inconsistent pitching and too much reliance on the long ball. Need to be better at contact hitting and pushing across runs with more consistent results. Hope both coaches/teams can get things figured out. Seems to me the ladies lacrosse was the only team that over performed. Did well for being in the best conference by far. Look forward to seeing if they can build on this year and continue to improve in the toughest league in the nation.
You are correct. People go crazy on here even if you tell the truth. It is not half empty, just the truth. Our piching is sub par in both softball and baseball.
Football is the cash cow and we must start winning again.
You are right on every point….
I never understood why people get so mad when someone states the obvious.
Go Hokies!
No pitcher= early exit , this team will be out in the first round.
You have to have a stud every year, and we didn’t this year.
Next year will be even worse unless we recruit a pitcher
We have 2 very highly rated pitchers coming in next season plus List should be back. I know you are a glass half-empty person but we will have double the number of pitchers next season, a new pitching coach (most likely), plus our current pitchers will have another off-season to improve. Your comment about it being worse next year makes no sense.
I said unless we recruit a stud pitcher….I hope they do great, cause that’s the main thing you need especially in softball.
I’m not a glass half empty, just not blind to the obvious.
We have recruited ‘stud’ pitchers. Correct me if I’m wrong but we don’t have a senior pitcher on the roster and only one junor I think. Please name a ‘stud’ freshman pitcher in the NCAA. Keely pitched 5 years. Nothing creates a ‘stud’ pitcher like experience.
Please don’t confuse him with facts.
The sky is falling!
Don’t be a smart ass!
Look at Oklahoma and you can find plenty of “studs”
We do need a stud pitcher to advance in the NCAA tournament. There is no doubt about that. Our primary pitchers this year are a sophomore and two freshmen; and they lost their pitching coach prior to the start of the season or vary early in the season. We also have a freshman catcher and a freshman shortstop. Most teams that are young in those positions do not win as many games as we have this year.
It is not reasonable to think these young players will not improve as your last comment suggests. It is a foolish or ill-informed statement.
You are correct. People go crazy on here even if you tell the truth. It is not half empty, just the truth. Our piching is sub par in both softball and baseball.
Football is the cash cow and we must start winning again.
Bottom line is you need a world beater pitcher ala Sandercock or Keely. two good pitchers or even ten good pitchers doesn’t make up the difference. Whatever was going on with the pitching coach surely didn’t help. The HR thing is interesting and fun but again, doesn’t overcome not having that world beater on the mound.
But, not to be a downer, the Louisville win was good for where the team is at, pretty much the break-even point for the ACC tournament. See how they do in the NCAA after everyone gets well again. Wondering if it isn’t Noravirus being brought up by AT through-hikers.
+1
Pitching has been very erratic this year especially after our pitching coach has been missing in action. I also realize we have a young group of pitchers who were highly rated coming to VT and we have some more highly rated pitchers coming in for next season.
Pete needs to hire a high quality pitching coach who also can recruit major pitching talent.
Let’s keep the faith.