No. 5 Florida State Run-Rules Liberty 8-0

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – The No. 5 Florida State Seminoles pulled away late for a six-inning, 8-0 win over Liberty on Tuesday at JoAnne Graf Field at Seminole Softball Complex.

The Seminoles improve to 6-0 with the win, while the Lady Flames remain in search of their first win at 0-6.

Florida State was ranked No. 5 in this week’s Softball America Top 25, while ranking sixth in both D1Softball and USA Softball polls. The Seminoles appeared seventh in the USA Softball top 25. The Lady Flames were listed among “others receiving votes in both the USA Softball and NFCA polls today.

 

Notre Dame 5, Liberty 1

Scoring Summary

Florida State – 3rd INNING – Griggs walks, Danley and Hinde advance, McKenzie scores, 1-0

Florida State – 5th INNING – Griggs singles to left, Bueno advances, Danley scores, 2-0

Florida State – 5th INNING – Sturgis singles to center, advances, Bueno scores, Griggs scores on error, 4-0

Florida State – 5th INNING – Heller doubles to center, Frey and Torres score, 6-0

Florida State – 6th INNING – McKenzie homers to center, 7-0

Florida State – 6th INNING – Bueno doubles to center, Danley scores, 8-0

 

Turning Point

The Seminoles left eight runners on base over the first four innings, leaving the bases loaded in both the first and third frames while taking a 1-0 lead into the fifth inning.
FSU put the game out of reach with a five-run fifth inning, getting RBI hits from Hayley Griggs, Makenna Sturgis and Marin Heller. 

Notable Numbers

Florida State led 11-3 in hits, with the Lady Flames committing three errors. The hosts left nine runners on base, compared to four stranded for the Lady Flames.
Jazzy Francik (3-0) earned the win, allowing two hits in four innings of shutout softball, walking two and fanning one. The Seminole right-hander has yet to allow a run in 17 innings pitched this season. Marlee Gaskell and Bella Dimitrijevic both pitched in relief.
Gabby Mike (0-3) drew the loss, allowing two runs on five hits, walking three and fanning three in 4 1/3 innings. Caitlyn Nesbitt and Kaylan Yoder both yielded two earned runs.
FSU’s Marin Heller went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI. Shelby McKenzie batted 2-for-4 with a homer, one RBI and two runs scored, while Ashtyn Danely batted 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
Savannah Jessee, Alexia Carrasquillo and Ella Fox had one hit each for the Lady Flames. 

Beyond the Box Score

Florida State leads the all-time series over Liberty 2-0 in softball. The only previous meeting resulted in a 7-1 Seminole victory during the 2020 St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational.
Current Liberty assistant coach Emily Kirby Nagle was the starting pitcher for the Lady Flames in their last meeting with Florida State.
Four out of Liberty’s first six games this season have been against teams inside the Top 10 at time of meeting. 

Up Next
The Lady Flames now travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., where they will compete in the Easton Bama Bash. While in Tuscaloosa, Liberty will face Alabama and Georgia Southern twice each, while also taking on Purdue.