No. 5 FSU Softball handles Stetson in road midweek

For the midweek matchup, Florida State softball started freshman Madi Balk, against Lauren Hobbs for Stetson.

Batting first, Hobbs clipped lead off hitter Devyn Flaherty. Two outs later had Flaherty on second base. With two outs and a runner in scoring position, Michaela Edenfield homered off of the Hatters ace. Following Edenfield, Katie Dack doubled, but was left on base after a strike out.

Getting her second start of the season, Madi Balk started her day with a lead off walk. A second walk had two runners on and no outs for the Hatters. The ground out got the first out, but put two runners in scoring position. With a threat already on the bases, Makenna Reid came in for Balk, who got her first out on a fly out that produced a run. Reid secured the final out without any further damage.

Up 2-1 heading into the second offensive outing, two outs were quickly put on the board for Hobbs. A single from Josie Muffley allowed her to reach base, and soon steal for second. An error from the infield allowed the top of the lineup, in Flaherty, to reach safely. With runners on the corners, Hallie Wacaser added her teams second double to clear the bases.

With a 4-1 advantage and a runner on second, Kalei Harding doubled as well. The extra base hit easily scored Wacaser and added the 5th run for the Seminoles. Hobbs faced Edenfield with a runner on base, getting her to pop out.

From the 2nd inning to the 5th, both Reid and Hobbs kept it a 5-1 FSU lead. In the top of the 5th, FSU kept pressure with two outs. After Dack and Mudge were retired to start the inning, Bethaney Keen singled into right field. A second straight hit by pitch to Krystina Hartley put two on.

In a pinch hitting role, Amaya Ross reached on a single to third base. With the bases loaded and Flaherty batting, she beat out infield single that scored two more runs. The extra run support for FSU took Hobbs out of the game, and entered Hannah Marien.

Now up 7-1, Ali DuBois entered as the ‘Noles third pitcher of the game. Closing out the 5th and into the 6th, DuBois was having a good outing. In the 6th, the lead off batter reached against DuBois, off of an error she got to second. A passed ball and strike out later, the runner was on third. A single up the middle added a second run for the Hatters but FSU was able to keep it at one run.

In the 7th, only Ross reached on a walk, as the game turned over to the bottom half. In relief of DuBois, Allison Royalty closed out the game. Despite allowing a pair of baserunners, Royalty helped secure the win for FSU, as they took down the Hatter 7-2.

Gwyn’s Player of the Game

Coming in relief early on, Makenna Reid helped settle down the team and stall the Hatters bats. In 3.2 innings, she had 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K and retired 11 of 12 batters faced.

Up next

FSU will travel to Blacksburg, VA to face the Virginia Tech Hokies. The series will begin on Thursday.

• Thursday April 20th 7 pm ESPN2
• Friday April 21st 6 pm ACCNX
• Saturday April 22nd 2 pm ACCN