No. 3 Florida State Pulls Away in Seventh for 8-2 Win

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. – Florida State (34-3, 7-1 ACC) scored four times in the top of the seventh to pull away for an 8-2 win against Virginia (16-16, 5-6 ACC) in game two of the series on Saturday (March 30) at The Park.
 
Freshman pitcher Aly Rayle (Herndon, Va.) went toe-to-toe with Florida State’s vaunted lineup for 6 2/3 innings, surrendering four earned runs on six hits. Rayle (6-3) struck out four Seminoles in the outing. The 6 2/3 innings is a career high for the first-year hurler.
 
Senior Lacy Smith (Lancaster, Pa.) lifted a solo home run in the sixth inning, her 13th of the season, to tie the Virginia single-season school record.
 
Kathryn Sandercock (10-0) earned the win for Florida State, working four innings while allowing one run.
 
KEY INNING
A two-out error in the top of the seventh gave Florida State new life in the inning. The Seminoles capitalized, scoring four unearned runs in the frame. Elizabeth Mason’s second homer of the day made it 6-2 before Zoe Casas and Makinzy Herzog added RBI-knocks.

TOUCHING HOME
• Mason’s first two-run homer put FSU on the board first in the top of the fourth inning.
• Olivia Gott (Weston, Fla.) answered back with a solo home run to dead center in the bottom half of the fourth to cut it to a 2-1 game.
• FSU manufactured two insurance runs in the sixth with a two-out rally capped by Anna Shelnutt’s double to left to make it a 4-1 game.
• Smith led-off the bottom of the sixth with her solo home run to left, cutting the score to 4-2.
• Mason added her second homer of the day off reliever Allyson Frei (Branchville, N.J.) to make it 6-2 Seminoles in the seventh. FSU would add two more runs in the inning, all unearned, for the 8-2 final.

ON THE LINES
• Smith’s 13th homer tied Kristen Dennis’ 13 homers in 2002 as the most in a single season by a Cavalier.
• Gott’s homer was her fourth of the season.
• Hayley Busby (Phoenix, Ariz.) roped her 12th double of the season as part of a 2-for-4 day.
• Erika Osherow (Darien, Conn.) finished 1-for-3 at the plate with a single for Virginia’s fifth hit.

UP NEXT
Virginia and Florida State wrap the series on Sunday with a noon first pitch at The Park.