Florida State softball catcher Anna Shelnutt has what one might call a knack for the dramatic home run.
More than three weeks after hitting a walk-off 3-run home run in the ACC Tournament final to give the Seminoles a dramatic 5-4 victory over Pittsburgh and a fifth straight conference crown, Shelnutt provided all of the offense on Monday night in the opening game of the best-of-three national championship series of the Women’s College World Series. Shelnutt’s blast was of the solo variety to open the sixth inning in a 1-0 win over Washington.
The Seminoles (57-12) squandered scoring chances in the three prior innings, including in the third when they had Morgan Klaevemann on third base with nobody out. Washington pitcher Gabbie Plain settled in and got both Elizabeth Mason and Jessie Warren to pop out before striking out Carsyn Gordon to retire the side.
The biggest threat for the Huskies (52-9) came in the bottom half of the inning as they loaded the bases with one out. FSU’s Meghan King was able to strike out Julia DePonte and Kirstyn Taylor to get out of the inning unscathed.
As has been the case for most of the NCAA Tournament, King was outstanding for FSU. In her third complete game of the Women’s College World Series, King struck out six and walked two in a 5-hit shutout. Plain was stellar for Washington, yielding five hits and three walks, but the home run surrendered to Shelnutt proved to be the difference.
Warren had two of the five hits for the Seminoles and a huge play in the field in the seventh. After the lead-off hitter Taryn Atlee reached for Washington, Warren made a diving grab on a Trysten Melhart bunt attempt and threw to first to double off Atlee. Center fielder Kelly Burdick had a pair of hits for the Huskies, including a single with two outs in the seventh, but was stranded as Taylor Van Zee hit a comebacker to King to end the contest.
Florida State will now have two chances to win one game in Oklahoma City to claim its first national championship and become the first ACC team to claim college softball’s ultimate prize. Washington’s only title came in 2009. The teams meet on Tuesday night at 8 p.m. EST.
Mike Ferguson is the editor of The Daily Nole. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson
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