FSU Falls to Georgia to Open WCWS, Faces Elimination

Florida State tied a Women’s College World Series record on Thursday by committing seven errors, leading to four unearned runs for Georgia in a 5-4 loss.

After ACC Player of the Year Alex Powers tied the game for FSU with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 6th, Georgia went ahead for good the following half inning thanks to a fielding and throwing error that put Cortni Emanuel at third with no one out. Emanuel would score the winning run on an RBI groundout by Alyssa DiCarlo.

FSU got the scoring started Thursday with a 2-run home run by Jessica Warren in the bottom of the 1st. Georgia answered with two in the second and two more in the third inning.

The Bulldogs were able to take advantage of back-to-back fielding errors in the second by FSU shortstop Cali Harrod and Warren, the third baseman. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Katie Brown and Maeve McGuire evened things up.

The two runs for Georgia in the third came on consecutive RBI singles up the middle by DiCarlo and Tina Iosefa, the nation’s home run leader. The score would remain 4-2 until Powers’ blast in the sixth inning.

Six different Seminoles committed an error in Thursday’s loss, including Harrod, who committed two. Meghan King took the loss for FSU despite not yielding an earned run. King allowed just four hits and a walk in five innings of relief for starter Jessica Burroughs. Chelsea Wilkinson worked a complete game to get the win for the Bulldogs.

FSU now faces elimination and will take the field Saturday at noon EST against the loser of Thursday’s contest between UCLA and Auburn. Georgia will face the winner, also on Saturday.