SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The University of Notre Dame softball dropped a 5-4 eight inning contest to the fourth-ranked Florida State Seminoles Friday night at Melissa Cook Stadium. The Fighting Irish got to the top pitcher on the Florida State staff, but couldn’t hold off the Seminole offense. Notre Dame falls to 29-14-1 on the season and 11-10-1 in ACC play. FSU improves to 41-8, and a league-best 17-2 in conference.
Payton Tidd got the start in the circle. The graduate student threw into the eighth inning and suffered the loss. She allowed eight hits, five earned runs and struck out three. Micaela Kastor came in with a runner on in the eighth. She got all three outs, one via a strikeout.
The Irish offense went for five hits. Lexi Orozco finished 1-for-3 and hit her 14th home run of the season. That surpasses her single season record for home runs as the graduate student is now tied with Karina Gaskins for the team lead. Leea Hanks, Macie Eck, Payton Tidd and Joley Mitchell each had a hit in the contest. Tidd drove in two with a single, and Mickey Winchell added the fourth RBI of the day with a sacrifice fly.
How It Happened
FSU’s pitcher was a tough one to crack, but the Irish broke open for four in the bottom of the fifth inning. Orozco led off the frame with a home run to left center to break the scoreless tie. Hanks and Eck followed with singles and a pinch runner came in with runners on the corners. Emily Tran swiped second base and scored when Tidd singled back up the middle to extend the lead to 3-0. An error moved Tidd to third as Winchell lifted a sacrifice fly to left to extend the lead to 4-0, Irish.
FSU answered right back in the top of the sixth, scoring four of their own. A single up the middle followed by an out and two more singles scored the first run and left two on. The FSU catcher lifted a pitch to center field to tie the game at four in the sixth inning.
After trading zeroes for the next inning and a half, the Seminoles took the lead in the eighth. A double to left center put the winning run aboard. A ground out to the right side moved the winning run 60 feet away with no outs. Jahni Kerr, the top for average hitter in FSU’s lineup, chopped a ground ball to shortstop, who threw home and the Irish executed a rundown to get the runner, but Kerr took third on the play. A wild pitch allowed the run to score to go up 5-4.
The Irish battled back in the eighth. Mitchell doubled to put the tying run at second with two outs. Gaskins dug in and took a two-strike pitch that was up in the zone, and was called a strike for the final out of the contest.
Up Next
The Irish and Seminoles will resume their series tomorrow at noon at Melissa Cook Stadium.