Lady ‘Noles Advance to WCWS

Florida State was able to overcome a 17-3 loss to Michigan on Thursday to defeat the Wolverines twice on Friday and advance to the Women’s College World Series for the first time in a decade. After breezing through the first game on Friday, the Seminoles earned a spot in Oklahoma City in dramatic fashion.

The day began for Florida State with a 6-0 shutout of Michigan. Lacey Waldrop put a forgettable outing on Thursday behind her to hurl a complete game, five-hit shutout as FSU forced a third game.

Four different players went yard for the Seminoles in the contest including three in the fifth inning. Courtney Senas, Maddie O’Brien and Celeste Gomez all went deep in the inning. Victoria East hit a solo home run an inning later to extend the lead.

In the final game of the series, Senas played the role of hero. With the game tied in the bottom of the seventh, Senas belted a two-run, walk-off home run over the left field wall, giving the Lady ‘Noles a 4-2 victory.

While Senas had the winning hit, she also tied the game two innings earlier in the most unusual fashion. Senas hit a 25-foot bloop that was mishandled by Wolverines’ pitcher Haylie Wagner and rolled near the Michigan dugout. Wagner was able to prevent the ball from rolling into the dugout, but was unable to spring to her feet before Tiffani Brown raced home from first to knot the game at two.

Re-gaining the lead looked inevitable for Michigan in the top of the seventh as the Wolverines loaded the bases with nobody out. Waldrop was able to get a critical strikeout before inducing a pair of ground balls — one a fielder’s choice and the other a groundout — to end the threat.

O’Brien walked with one out to put the winning run on base in the bottom half of the inning before Senas sent the Seminoles to the Women’s College World Series two batters later. The appearance for FSU in the Women’s College World Series is the eighth in school history and first since 2004. The Lady ‘Noles will face either Minnesota or top-seeded Oregon.