Texas rallies against Florida State to take Game 1
The Texas Longhorns rallied from two runs down to defeat the Florida State Seminoles, 3-2, in the first game of a best-of-three series and hold the advantage heading into Sunday at the Austin Super Regionals.
Karina Scott and Brejae Washington were the heros of the game. Scott led the Texas batters with her two RBI performance. Scott cut the Seminoles lead in half, 2-1, in the fourth inning with a RBI single to right. Washington doubled up the middle in the fifth inning to score Taylor Hoagland and tie the game, 2-2. Scott then doubled to left center to drive in the winning-run in the sixth.
Texas finally got a chance to play at Red & Charline McCombs Field on Saturday night after several rain delays.
"It was good to play finally," coach Connie Clark said. "After waiting out the rain and delays. I thought our team did a great job working through that. We talked about staying loose and when the bell rings, lets be ready for the call."
There were several nail-biting moments in the game that had the Longhorn faithful on their heels, but Texas remained composed and owned the moment.
The biggest moment of the ballgame came in the top of the sixth inning with the game tied. Blaire Luna loaded the bases giving up two hits and one walk, but settled into her All-American pedigree and remained calm. She picked up two huge strikeouts to end the inning unharmed.
That moment and Luna's veteran presence might have turned the momentum for Texas because Karina Scott drove in the winning-run in the bottom half of inning.
"I thought we slowed everything down exceptionally well tonight," coach Clark said. "And just owned the moment. I think that's very important when you're in atmospheres like this. I felt like that was the different in the ballgame and we were very good mentally."
Florida State took a 2-0 lead in the third inning after Luna walked two batters. Victoria East smashed a double to right over Gabby Smith's head to score both runners.
In the fourth inning, Kim Bruins drew a lead off walk. Mandy Ogle grounded to third, but Bruins advanced to second base. Torie Schmidt struck out looking before Karina Scott singled to right and put Texas' first run on the scoreboard.
In the fifth inning, Stephanie Ceo reached on a bunt single to the pitcher. Then Taylor Hoagland reached on a fielder's choice. Hoagland then stole second base before Brejae Washington doubled up the middle to score Hoagland and tie the ballgame.
In the sixth inning, Schmidt hit a infield single with one out. In the next at-bat, Karina Scott doubled to left center to scored Schmidt from first and gave the Longhorns the go-ahead run.
The Longhorns had trouble early in the ballgame against Florida State's right-handed pitcher Lacey Waldrop. Waldrop had only allowed two hits to Texas through three innings and ended the game with eight strikeouts. The Texas batters came into the Super Regional on fire, scoring 22 combined runs against Army and South Carolina.
Waldrop left the game with a no-decision after allowing two runs on five hits and two walks over 5.0 innings. Monica Perry came on in relief for Waldrop in the sixth inning. Perry recorded the loss and pitched one inning, allowing one run on two hits. She struck out two batters.
Blaire Luna (29-5) recorded the victory after allowing two runs on seven hits and five walks. She struck out 10 batters in the ballgame.
Three Longhorns garnered two hits in the game—Washington, Schmidt, and Scott.
Kristin Austin and Victoria East led the Seminoles at the plate. Austin went 2 for 3 while Victoria East drove in two runs.
Texas returns to Red & Charline McCombs Field tomorrow at 2 p.m to face Florida State in Game 2 of the Austin Super Regionals. Texas is one win away from a berth in the Women's College World Series in Oklahoma City. Michigan, Oklahoma, and Washington have already punched their tickets.
