Florida State Softball's bid for third straight ACC title comes up short in finals
The Florida State softball team had a three-run lead heading into the middle innings on Saturday in the ACC Championship Game.
The cushion, it turns out, wasn’t big enough.
The No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils, playing in their home park, scored six unanswered runs — including four in the pivotal sixth inning — to come back and win the second conference title in program history.
It’s just the second time in the last 10 years Florida State hasn’t won the ACC tournament.
Now, the Seminoles (43-14) will watch the Sunday Night Selection Show to see if they’ll be hosting an NCAA Regional next weekend. They had the No. 13 RPI in the country heading into Saturday’s showdown with No. 4 Duke. The top 16 teams in the country, as determined by the NCAA Selection Committee, earn hosting bids.
For much of the game on Saturday, it looked like the Seminoles weren’t going to leave anything in the committee’s hands. Kalei Harding smoked a two-run homer to left in the fourth inning, Michaela Edenfield followed a few moments later with an RBI double, and it looked like FSU was on its way to another conference championship.
Not quite.
Duke got two back in the bottom of the inning — a rally that started when left fielder Kaley Mudge had a line drive tick off her glove to start the frame (it was ruled a hit, but it was clear the senior thought she should’ve caught it) — and then took the lead in the bottom of the sixth off freshman pitcher Ashtyn Danley.
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Danley walked two of the first three batters she faced to begin the inning, and then gave up a game-tying, line-drive single to center to cleanup hitter Ana Gold. Even then, it looked like there was a chance the Seminoles could get out of the inning all tied up.
But with the bases loaded and one out, senior second baseman Devyn Flaherty fielded a ground ball and threw home for the force-out. But the throw was in the dirt, Edenfield couldn’t handle it cleanly, and the Blue Devils had the lead.
The Devils added two more in the inning on a bloop single and then got the three outs they needed in the top of the seventh to celebrate in a dog pile in the middle of the circle.
Talk about this story with other die-hard FSU football fans on the Tribal Council.
