FSU Softball clinches series at Louisville; Baseball falls as Cards steal record 14 bases

The FSU baseball team dropped its second game at Louisville on Saturday, 9-4, which sets up a rubber game on Sunday afternoon.

The Seminoles’ softball team, meanwhile, pulled away for a 3-0 victory to clinch their series against the Cardinals. They will shoot for the ACC sweep on Sunday.

Baseball: FSU falls 9-4

There were a few reasons the No. 4 Florida State baseball team dropped Saturday’s game at No. 19 Louisville.

The bullpen wasn’t great. The offense had trouble hitting with runners on base. Louisville is good. That’s also a factor.

But the biggest one might have been a record-breaking day on the bases for the home team. The Cardinals stole a staggering 14 bases against Florida State on their way to nine runs and an eventual 9-4 win over the Seminoles.

The result evened the series at 1-1 with the rubber match scheduled for 3 p.m. on Sunday.

Florida State (31-8, 12-5) actually led 4-0 early before Louisville started mounting its comeback. All-America candidate Alex Lodise had an RBI double in the first inning and then a two-run double in the fifth. He then scored on a sacrifice fly from Myles Bailey.

From there, though, it was all Louisville.

The Cardinals scored one in the fifth off starter Joey Volini, three more in the sixth (two charged to Volini and one to reliever Payton Manca) and then took the lead for good in the seventh with three runs against relievers Chris Knier and Maison Martinez.

Louisville scored two more in the eighth off the combination of Brady Louck and Ben Barrett to take a 9-4 lead into the ninth inning. Florida State, which didn’t score after Bailey’s sac fly in the fifth and had only six hits on the day, went quietly in the ninth.

Volini, on the heels of Jamie Arnold’s terrific Game 1 outing, wasn’t quite as sharp as his predecessor. He pitched five innings and was charged with three runs on five hits and zero walks.

Florida State’s bullpen was touched up for six runs on five hits and six walks in just three innings of work.

Meanwhile, Louisville’s bullpen was outstanding, allowing just three hits, one walk and zero runs in 4.2 innings on the mound.

The Cardinals’ relievers would have been the story of the game if not for the Cardinals’ baserunners. Louisville was a perfect 14-of-14 stealing bases on Saturday, smashing the previous school record for stolen bases in a game. The Cardinals, who had two different players with four stolen bases apiece, had 10 in a game back in 2013 against Eastern Kentucky.

A dozen years later, they flew past that record against the Seminoles.

FSU catcher Jaxson West was 0-for in trying to throw potential base-stealers out, but he wasn’t helped much by a pitching staff that didn’t hold runners nearly close enough.

Florida State will try to win the pivotal ACC series on Sunday with Wes Mendes getting the start on the mound.

FSU Softball 3, Louisville 0

Courtesy of FSU Sports Information

Freshman pitcher Jazzy Francik threw a gem, and Isa Torres hit a clutch double in the seventh inning to help the No. 7 Florida State softball team (42-6, 16-1) to a 3-0 win over Louisville (23-23, 6-14) on Saturday afternoon. FSU secured its sixth ACC series win of the season. 

Francik got the start in the circle for the Noles and was nothing short of spectacular. Francik retired the first 11 batters she faced with the Cardinals recording their first of the afternoon in the fourth inning. Francik allowed just two hits in her six innings of work with six strikeouts. The freshman did not allow a baserunner to get into scoring position. In her last two starts, Francik has pitched 13 scoreless innings and allowed just five hits while striking out 18 batters. 

The Seminoles had their first threat of the game in the third inning as Torres hit a leadoff double and advanced to third on a groundout. Michaela Edenfield walked to put runners on the corners, but a double play ended the inning. 

In the top of the seventh, the first two Seminole batters went down quietly, but Shelby McKenzie ripped one up the middle to get a runner aboard. Krystina Hartley drew a walk to turn the lineup over to Torres who ripped one over the left fielder’s head to clear the bases. Jahni Kerr added an insurance run with a single through the right side to make it 3-0. Kerr extended her RBI streak to six games. 

Ashtyn Danley came into the game in the seventh with a save opportunity and struck out the final two batters to strand a runner at second and pick up her third save of the season. Francik earned the win to improve to 8-2 this season. 

FSU will go for the series sweep Sunday at 6 p.m. on the ACC Network.

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