Associated Press4 minute read
FSU defeats Tennessee to advance to WCWS finals
Florida State beat Tennessee 5-1 and celebrated reaching the Women’s College World Series finals against Oklahoma.
OKLAHOMA CITY — Florida is back in a familiar position.
Kathryn Sandercock and McKenna Reed’s duo kept a clean sheet in the fifth inning on Monday night as No. 3-seeded Florida State beat No. 4-seeded Tennessee 5-1 to win the Women’s College World Series Championship contributed to the advancement of
A veteran ace of the Seminoles, Thundercock made his 10th save this year with one hit and four strikeouts in three innings. His freshman lead was replaced by Thundercock after allowing one hit in two innings. She took the win, extending her season record to 13-0.
This is very similar to the case in Florida. Last year, the Seminoles were the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, but were eliminated in the district tournament. They are now in their third championship series appearance in their last five finals.
“It’s every athlete’s dream to end their career in a national championship game,” Sandercock said. “We always thought we could do it, so I’m really, really, really proud of the team today. so you can wear the jersey again. “
Florida State (58-9) will face No. 1-seeded Oklahoma State (59-1) in a best-of-three series for the U.S. title starting Wednesday. It will be a rematch of the 2021 series that Oklahoma won.
The University of Oklahoma is expected to become the first program to win three consecutive national championships since UCLA in 1988-1990. The Sooners have won four of their last six titles.
Oklahoma defeated No. 9 seed Stanford 4-2 earlier in the day and waited for the winner of the night.
Tennessee’s Zaida Puni took the lead with a solo shot off Mac Leonard in the first inning. It was her sixth home run in nine NCAA Tournament games.
Florida State’s Michaela Edenfield responded with a solo homer in the second inning. Bethany Keene’s first home run of the season in the third inning extended the Seminoles’ lead to 2-1, and in the fifth, Jhanni Kerr’s RBI extended the Florida State lead to 3-1.
Tennessee starter Peyton Gottschall suffered the loss. Lady Volds ace Ashley Rodgers entered the game in the fifth inning, but Harry Wakather’s 2-run lead made it 5-1 in the sixth. It was Wakather’s fourth home run of the year.
Keen and Wakather’s home run was an example of how Florida State got donations from various sources and figured out how to win.
“The end goal when you get here is to be able to fire everything on every cylinder,” said Florida State coach Ronnie Alameda. “There is no book about how to do that. You have to think about your experience, your seniors, what you think they can bring to the table on an ongoing basis, and how you can help young people grow.” I have to.”
Tennessee native Kiki Miloy, a member of the National Fastpitch Coaches Association All-American Top Team, was one of the best performers in the tournament, but went 0 in 4. The Lady Vols (51-10) left him with seven runners.
“We had a few chances,” said Karen Weekly, the head coach of Tennessee. “I kind of knew that once I got to a certain point in the lead, I was going to see Thundercock. She’s very good. She’s one of the best pitchers. Tonight, you should know why.”
