FSU Softball Prolongs Season, Tops LSU in 11

After Florida State and LSU softball combined for five scoreless frames, the Seminoles finally broke through in the 11th inning with three runs on a pair of blasts in an 8-5 victory on Saturday night. With the win, No. 6 national seed FSU forces a decisive third game of the Tallahassee Super Regional.

Carsyn Gordon’s solo blast put the Seminoles (51-11) ahead for good before Anna Shelnutt added some insurance with a 2-run shot two batters later. Meghan King went all 11 innings in the circle for Florida State to get the win.

For most of the way, FSU seemed in control of a contest delayed about 80 minutes by lightning. Jessie Warren’s 2-run home run highlighted a 4-run third inning to make it a 4-1 game. The Seminoles added a fifth run in the fifth inning on an RBI single from Cali Harrod.

LSU (45-16), the nation’s No. 11 seed, evened the game and took momentum in the bottom half of the inning with a grand slam from Shemiah Sanchez. From there, neither team scored until the 11th.

Shelnutt finished with three RBIs for the Seminoles in the win while Harrod plated two. LSU got the scoring started in the second inning with an RBI single from Shelbi Sunseri. Sunseri and Aliyah Andrews were the only Tigers with two hits.

Carley Hoover took the loss for LSU after throwing more than 200 pitches. She was finally replaced by Maribeth Gorsuch with one out in the 11th inning.

Because of the threat of Tropical Storm Alberto, the Seminoles and Tigers will play the decisive third game on Saturday night. LSU ended FSU’s season with a Game 3 victory in last season’s Tallahassee Super Regional.

Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson