Jamie Arnold strikes out 17 in hard-luck, 1-0 loss; FSU Softball advances to ACC title game

Release from FSU Sports Information:

PITTSBURGH — Starting pitcher Jamie Arnold struck out 17 batters Friday at Pitt – the most for a Seminole since 1987 – but No. 8 Florida State (36-11) fell to Pitt (22-25) 1-0 at Charles L. Cost Field. A Pittsburgh home run in the sixth inning was the difference in the game.

Arnold, who began Friday ranked seventh in the country in strikeouts, put together the ninth 17-strikeout performance in FSU history and the first since Richie Lewis struck out 20 vs. Charlotte in 1987. He needed just 98 pitches and 7.0 innings for his 17 strikeouts, the most for an ACC pitcher since Georgia Tech’s Connor Thomas had 18 vs. Wake Forest in 2018.

Arnold struck out at least two hitters in each of his seven innings.

Pitt’s Luke Cantwell hit a solo home run with two outs in the sixth inning to provide the games’ lone run. It came one pitch after Arnold’s 15^th strikeout of the contest.

The Panthers’ Ryan Andrade matched Arnold’s 7.0 innings, allowing three hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.

FSU’s best chance to score came in the seventh inning, when Jaime Ferrer singled and reached third base with one out before Andrade got a strikeout and pop out to strand the runner.

OF NOTE:

• Jamie Arnold struck out 17 batters, the most for a Seminole since 1987 and the ninth-most in a game in program history. The last ACC pitcher with 17 strikeouts in a game was Connor Thomas of Georgia Tech in 2018.
• Arnold has 118 strikeouts on the season; he entered Friday seventh nationally in strikeouts.
• Cam Smith’s 56-game on-base streak ended. He was 0-for-3 Friday.
• FSU’s school-record 21-game streak with a home run ended Friday.
• FSU was shut out for the first time this year.

UP NEXT:

Florida State and Pittsburgh will play the second game of the series Saturday at 3 p.m. The game will stream on ACCNX.

FSU Softball advances to ACC title game

The second-seeded Florida State softball teams (43-13) used a nine-run fourth inning to run rule sixth-seeded Georgia Tech (27-23) on Friday evening to advance to its 26th ACC Championship Game in the last 31 ACC Tournaments. FSU scored 10 unanswered runs to take down the Yellow Jackets 10-2 at the Duke Softball Stadium in Durham, N.C. FSU will face top-seed and host Duke tomorrow in the championship game. 

Georgia Tech struck first with an unearned run in the top of the first and added another unearned run in the top of the fourth inning to take a 2-0 lead. The Noles entered the bottom of the fourth inning with just one hit but exploded with nine runs on six hits and two home runs. 

Isa Torres led the Noles off with a double, and Michaela Edenfield hit her 14th home run of the season to tie the game. Devyn Flaherty immediately drew a walk and put herself into scoring position. Flaherty advanced to third on a groundout, and Amaya Ross laid down a perfect bunt and advanced to second because no one was covering the bag to put two runners in scoring position. Kennedy Harp walked to load the bases, and Kaley Mudge singled to score Ross and Flaherty to give the Noles the lead. 

Beachum followed Mudge with a double down the left field line to score Harp and move into sole possession of fifth place on the single season RBI list with 64 RBI. Kalei Harding drew a walk to load the bases for Torres who delivered with her first career grand slam to give the Noles a 9-2 lead. 

FSU ended the game in the fifth inning as Mudge drove Ross home on a fielder’s choice. 

The FSU pitchers did not allow an earned run for the second consecutive game as Mimi Gooden got the start and went 1.2 innings and allowed two hits. Ashtyn Danley picked up the win as she went 3.1 inning and allowed just one run on four hits. 

FSU and Duke will meet in the ACC Championship Game for the second consecutive year as FSU prevailed 2-1 in last year’s title game. FSU has won eight out of the last nine ACC Championships and 9 out of the last 15 ACC titles. FSU will be looking for its 20th ACC Tournament Championship tomorrow. First pitch is set for 2:30 p.m. on ESPN2

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