No. 6 FSU Softball battles with No. 2 UCLA, falls to the Bruins

On Saturday, the Florida State Seminoles squared up with the No. 2 UCLA Bruins. For the Seminoles, it was Mack Leonard getting the start, against the freshman Taylor Tinsley for UCLA.

Leonard came out hot in the circle shutting down the UCLA lineup in order in the 1st and 2nd inning. In the bottom of the 2nd, after leaving the bases loaded in the first, Bethaney Keen doubled with one out. Next up, Josie Muffley singled and Keen was able to score on an error by the right fielder. Muffley was able to take second as well.

A second hit by Kaley Mudge, off of relief pitcher Lauren Shaw, got Muffley home, and the second Bruin error of the inning left Mudge on third base. The UCLA coaching staff did not allow Shaw to make another mistake, taking her out for ace Megan Faraimo in the circle, after only one batter. Faraimo was able to get the last two outs, but not before FSU put up a 2-0 lead.

Leonard and the Seminole defense was rolling into the 5th, FSU made the change from Leonard to Emma Wilson in the circle. Wilson’s time was short as after a lead off double, she was pulled for Allison Royalty. Despite a walk, Royalty punched out the next two batters to keep her team in the lead.

Faraimo shut down the Seminoles line up heading into the 6th inning. Makenna Reid was the 4th FSU pitcher to appear in this matchup, coming in for Royalty. Reid went one third of an inning with two singles and a walk, before Kat Sandercock came in with bases loaded to face Sharlize Palacios. An out to Palacios brought up Kennedy Powell, who walked to put UCLA on the board 2-1. Two outs and bases loaded, Senca Curo doubled to clear the bases, put UCLA in front for the first time 4-2.

In the bottom of the 6th, Edenfield drew a walk off of Faraimo to get it started. A one out walk to Katie Dack put two on with one out. A single by Hallie Wacaser put ducks on the pond for Keen. Faraimo K’d Keen on three straight strikes, bringing in Josie Muffley. In the 9th spot, Muffley brought herself to a 3-2 count against the reigning PAC 12 pitcher of the year. Muffley drove a perfect pitch into right center field to bring in two runs, tied 4-4 ball game at the end of the 6th.

Sandercock bat out for the 7th, a one out single followed by a double had runners in scoring position for Megan Grant. The Bruin freshman singled, bringing home the runners and pulling UCLA back into a 6-4 lead. The runs brought in Madi Balk, for her second appearance as a Seminole. Balk allowed a walk and another Bruin to reach on an error to reload the bases. The ground out got the freshman out of the inning, putting FSU back at the box with only three outs to play with.

A quick two outs came to the third out, where Faraimo got the fly out to secure the win for UCLA. The Seminoles drop their second game by a 6-4 decision.

Gwyn’s Player of the Game

Josie Muffley was the reason the ‘Noles had a chance in the bottom of the 6th. She had a 2-3 day with 1 R, 2 H, 3 RBI and batting .250.

Up next

FSU will play a double header on Feb. 19th, first against Louisiana at 1 pm on ESPN+, followed by Alabama at 5 pm pm ESPN.