Hanson, Mason Power FSU Softball Past No. 1 Oregon

Florida State softball, the No. 6 national seed, is halfway to the final of the Women’s College World Series. The Seminoles (54-12) won a second elimination game in Oklahoma City late Saturday night with a 4-1 win over No. 1 Oregon.

No. 9 hitter Elizabeth Mason supplied the offense for FSU early. Mason got the scoring started with an RBI double in the third before adding an RBI single in the fifth.

The Seminoles scored in each of the final three frames, adding one in the sixth on a Zoe Casas single off the right field wall. Sydney Sherrill concluded the FSU scoring with a mammoth solo home run in the seventh.

Three different Oregon (53-10) pitchers yielded runs. Starter Miranda Elish took the loss by surrendering two runs on six hits in four innings of work.

FSU finished with nine hits, but Mason was the only player with two hits. Outfielder Dani Morgan was the only starter for the Seminoles not to register at least one.

The lone Oregon run came in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Haley Cruse that slipped under Morgan’s glove. Cruse had two of the five hits for the Ducks.

Kylee Hanson went 6 1/3 innings and earned the win for Florida State in the circle. Hanson allowed just an unearned run on five hits and one walk while striking out four. After going the distance in an elimination game against Georgia earlier in the day, Meghan King came in for FSU and retired the only two hitters she faced to get the save.

To reach the Women’s College World Series final, the Seminoles will need to beat No. 3 seed UCLA twice. FSU let a 4-run lead slip away in a 7-4 loss to the Bruins on Thursday night. The teams meet at 3:30 p.m. EST on Sunday.

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