No. 10/11 Florida State swept the Boston College softball team in a three-game series this weekend. The Seminoles won each of the first two games by a margin of 5-1 and defeated the Eagles 8-0 within five innings on Sunday.
The series, originally scheduled to be played at BC, was moved to Bryant University in Smithfield, R.I. due to poor field conditions. The teams faced off for a doubleheader on Saturday and finished the series with a game on Sunday. The Eagles entered the weekend in good form, riding on a six-game winning streak. They won all five games at the recent USF Tournament, and in doing so matched their total number of wins that they gathered in play last season. The Seminoles, however, put a dent in their record, which is now 14-10, 2-4 in the ACC.
Nicole D’Argento started both games on the mound for BC and was relieved by Jordan Weed on both occasions. In the first game, D’Argento struck out five batters, allowing four runs and five hits over the course of five innings.
In the third inning, Florida State first baseman Victoria East hit a three-run home run, brought about by a walk and a single prior to East’s hit. The Seminoles then tacked on another run in the fourth inning and one more in the sixth. The Eagles got on the scoreboard late in the game during the seventh inning when Jessie Daulton hit a single, which allowed Weed to reach home plate.
In the second game on Saturday, Florida State did not waste any time in running up the scoreboard. Junior Bailey Schinella put the Seminoles up 1-0 with a solo home run in the second inning. Then, freshman Tatiana Cortez evened out the score line in the same inning, hitting a solo home run for BC, which gave the Eagles their only point of the game.
Home runs proved to be the only method of scoring in this game, as Florida State’s Maddie O’Brien hit a two-run home run in the fourth inning, and Courtney Senas grabbed another two-run home run in the fifth inning to put the game at 5-1.
O’Brien leads the ACC in batting average, RBIs and home runs.
For the Eagles, centerfielder Megan Cooley proved to be the star of Saturday. She recorded two hits in the second game and three in the first in her total of five at bats on the day. She trails just behind O’Brien, coming in second in the ACC for batting average.
Florida State showed true dominance in Sunday’s game.
Florida State pitcher Lacey Waldrop only allowed the Eagles one hit in the game. She threw four balls in the first at-bat of the game to allow a walk, but then managed to send the next 12 batters back to the dugout. She faced 18 batters on the day, walking two, allowing one single, and striking out seven. After this game, Waldrop is 18-2 with a 0.57 ERA.
The BC mound had a much tougher day. Weed started the game for the Eagles and pitched three full innings before being relieved by D’Argento in the fourth.
In the top of the first, the Seminoles gathered four runs. With a runner already on base, Weed walked the second and third batters. Then Schinella hit a two-run single for the Seminoles, followed by an error and a sacrifice fly, which put the score at 4-0.
Florida State made the score 7-0 in the fourth inning with an RBI single and then two-run double. Courtney Senas ended the game with an eighth run, after hitting a leadoff triple, and then coming home off of a miscued pitch.
Freshman Taylor Coroneos was the only Eagle to notch a hit on Sunday. She was one of only three players to reach a base during the game.
