University of Louisville
FLORIDA STATE
Softball Upsets No. 8/10 Florida State 1-0
April 11, 2015 | Softball
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. - Sophomore Maryssa Becker registered a complete-game shutout and junior Brittany Sims delivered a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the sixth as the University of Louisville softball team upset No. 8/10 Florida State 1-0 in the first of a three-game ACC series Saturday evening at Ulmer Stadium.
Louisville (24-12, 12-4) and Florida State (33-11, 13-3) will continue the series with an ESPNU-televised game Sunday at 7 p.m.
"It was really a great effort by our team today," said UofL head coach Sandy Pearsall. "Obviously, we struggled to hit (Florida State pitcher Lacey Waldrop), but we did capitalize on their mistakes and that's what put us in position to win. Maryssa did a great job for us on the mound."
The teams played through five and a half scoreless innings before the Cardinals broke through in the bottom of the sixth. Hailey Smith reached on an error to lead off the home half of the inning. She took second on Whitney Arion's sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a groundout by Kayla Soles. Sims stepped up to the plate and connected on a single up the middle to bring Smith home and give the Cardinals a 1-0 lead.
The Seminoles threatened to score in the top of the seventh. O'Brien led off the frame with a line drive toward right field, but first baseman Tiarra Sanabria made a leaping catch for the first out of the inning. Megan Klaevemann then drew one-out walk to place the tying run on base. Pinch-hitter Jessica Warren sent a grounder up the middle which ricocheted off of Becker's foot, but shortstop Whitney Arion was there to make the catch, step on second base and throw to Sanabria for a game-ending double play.
Florida State had a scoring opportunity in the third when Marcy Cheatham led off the inning with a walk and took second on Maddie O'Brien's groundout and moved to third on a wild pitch. Morgan Klaevemann walked to put runners on the corners with one out. Bailey Schinella sent a ground ball back to Becker who teamed with third baseman Hailey Smith and catcher Alison Szydlowski to tag Cheatham out at the plate for the second out of the inning. A walk to Alex Powers loaded the bases, but Becker got Victoria East to ground out to get out of the jam.
"We had some great defensive plays... Tiarra (Sanabria) made that great snag on a line drive and Whitney (Arion) turned the double play to get us out of the seventh inning - that was huge," said Pearsall. "We made some great plays defensively - Brittany Sims made a nice one on a hit up the middle. We got the job done defensively, Maryssa was great on the mound and we did just enough offensively to win the ballgame."
Becker (10-4) struck out two and scattered four hits as she notched her second straight complete-game shutout. Sims went 2 for 3 with an RBI to lead Louisville offensively.
Lacey Waldrop (21-5) took the loss, allowing one unearned run on three hits and striking out five in 7.0 innings. Victoria Daddis paced the Seminoles with a 2 for 3 performance at the plate.
