Florida State wrapped up the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Palm Springs, California on Sunday with two teams the Seminoles defeated in last year’s Women’s College World Series — UCLA and Michigan.
After ascending to a No. 1 ranking for the first time in program history, FSU suffered its first loss to open the 4-day, 6-game classic. The Seminoles bounced back with four straight wins before travel arrangements for Michigan forced the final game for FSU to end in a tie.
FSU will return to Tallahassee to start ACC play on Friday against Georgia Tech. Looking back at as a busy weekend, here’s a brief look at each of the six games from the classic:
FSU 0, Texas A&M 2
Thursday, Feb. 23
Florida State had no answer for Texas A&M’s Samantha Show, who pitched a 4-hit complete game shutout to open things. Morgan Klaevemann accounted for two of the four FSU hits. The game remained scoreless until the bottom of the sixth when Kaitlyn Alderink took FSU’s Jessica Burroughs deep for a 2-run home run.
FSU 8, Stanford 2
Thursday, Feb. 23
FSU rallied from a 2-0 deficit with three runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and three in the seventh. Jessica Warren finished 3-for-4 with three RBIs. Klaevemann also had three hits, a pair of runs and an RBI. Ellie Cooper and Cassidy Davis each plated a pair of runs for FSU. Cooper and Dani Morgan each scored twice. Kristina Inouye went 2-for-3 with an RBI for the Cardinal in the loss.
San Diego State 4, FSU 6
Friday, Feb. 24
A 5-run fourth inning helped Florida State blow the game wide open on Friday night. Alex Powers and Cassidy Davis both homered for Florida State in the victory. The Aztecs tried to chip away with two runs in the fifth and two more in the seventh, but it was too little, too late. Jaylene Ignacio scored a pair of runs and drove in another for San Diego State in the loss.
Arizona 0, FSU 1
Saturday, Feb. 25
Meghan King worked 6.2 innings of shutout ball, allowing just five hits to improve to 5-0. Jessica Burroughs got the final out to record the save as FSU stranded nine Arizona Wildcats. The lone run of the night came in the bottom of the third inning as Jessica Warren singled home Morgan Klaevemann. Mo Mercado had two of the five Arizona hits.
FSU 2, UCLA 1
Sunday, Feb. 26
Alex Powers and Dani Morgan each had two hits and an RBI as FSU clinched a winning tournament. Jessica Burroughs allowed a run on three hits in 4.2 innings. Meghan King pitched out of a fifth inning jam to pick up the save. Brianna Tautalafua had two of UCLA’s five hits and scored the Bruins’ only run.
FSU 5, Michigan 5
Sunday, Feb. 26
Down to its last at-bat, Florida State scored a run in the top of the seventh on a fielder’s choice by Dani Morgan to force extra innings, but the game was called because of Michigan’s drop dead time. That’s the time the Wolverines had to leave to catch their flight. A 2-run double by FSU’s Sydney Broderick in the fourth inning gave the Seminoles a 3-1, but Michigan answered with two runs in the bottom of the inning and two more in the fifth. Zoe Casas homered for the Seminoles in the tie while Ellie Cooper scored two runs. Abby Ramirez scored two runs for Michigan while Tera Blanco went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
Maury Neipris/FSU athletics
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