NO. 3 FSU SETS SIGHTS ON OKC: NO. 7 WASHINGTON PREVIEW, HOW TO WATCH, GAME THREAD

Florida State beat Oklahoma State by a 8-0 mark, taking home a victory in its opening Women’s College World Series matchup by way of run-rule.

Last Saturday, Florida State softball secured their spot in Women’s College World Series field. After sweeping the 14th ranked Georgia Bulldogs, the Seminoles are one of eight teams competing for a national title in Oklahoma City.

Arriving in OKC, the Seminoles are entering with a 19-21 record in the WCWS, with reaching the championship series their past two trips. This trip is their 12th appearance to Hall of Fame Stadium.

After the opening win against Oklahoma State, FSU will now face Washington in a winner’s bracket game. In OKC, Washington won their first game against their PAC12 rival, the Utah Utes.

The Seminoles and Huskies have developed a history over the past several years. Their last matchup came in Clearwater in 2020, where Washington took a 7-0 win over Florida State. Prior to Clearwater, FSU made history in OKC by winning their first national championship in the two game sweep over UW.

In 2023, UW is 44-13 and 16-8 in the PAC12. They opened up the season at the Mark Campbell Invitational, with wins over Duke and Liberty, and dropped a game to Oklahoma. Since then, they have ranked wins over Oregon, UCLA, Arizona, Utah, Stanford, and Louisiana.

Washington Pitching

After Gabbie Plain graduated in 2021, the Huskies have been trying to find their pitching staff. Now in 2023, they have found it in Ruby Meylan. Meylan comes to Seattle as the Nebraska Gatorade Player of the Year in 2022. In her first season, she is the leader in ERA and innings pitched. In 169.1 innings, Ruby has a 2.19 ERA, 14 complete games, 135 H, 63 R, 47 BB, 197 SO, 11 HR, .214 B/AVG.

Behind Meylan, Kelley Lynch has the next lowest ERA, with 2.43 in 77.2 innings. Lynch has 3 complete games, 50 H, 30 R, 40 BB, 101 SO, 7 HR, and a .178 B/AVG. UW also brought in ASU transfer Lindsay Lopez. With a 3.49 ERA, Lopez has 2 complete games as a Husky, 86.1 innings, 88 H, 45 R, 23 BB, 83 SO, 3 HR and a .269 B/AVG.

In their first game against Utah in OKCA, Ruby Meylan got the start and went 3.1 innings, giving up 2 H, 1 and 1 SO before Lopez entered in relief. Coming out of the bullpen, Lopez had a 3.2 inning outing with 1 H, 0 R, 2 SO.

Husky Offense

The offensive leader for Washington is 5th year senior, Baylee Klingler. Leading with a .388 batting average, 42 R, 69 H, 14 2B, 12 HR, 47 RBI and 33 BB.

In addition to Klingler, three other Huskies have over a .300 batting average (Sami Reynolds, Madison Husky, SilentRain Espinoza). Husky is the only other player, who has double digit homeruns on the team, and over 40 RBI (11, 43).

Against Utah, Rylee Holtorf was all the offense for UW. The shortstops 3-3 day included a homerun to give Washington the lead. On the season, Holtorf is a .263 hitter, with 24 R, 35 H, 9 2B, 4 HR, 19 RBI and 15 BB.

Seminole Headlines

  • Kathryn Sandercock (1st team) and Makenna Reid (Freshman) were named D1Softball All Americans. Sandercock was also named as a 2nd team All American by the NFCA
  • Sandercock was also named Pitcher of the Month for Softball America.
  • Devyn Flaherty, Kaley Mudge, Kalei Harding, Josie Muffley and Kathryn Sandercock were all starters for the 2021 WCWS team. 11 of 22 current players were also on that team
  • Kaley Mudge holds a WCWS record for most hits (14) during the tournament.
  • Mack Leonard has pitched 10.1 innings in the ACC and NCAA Tournament, giving up 2 ER and tacking on 8 strikeouts during her run to two wins.

Stats Comparison

Batting average: UW (.303), FSU (.307)

ERA: UW (2.54), FSU (1.61)

On base percentage: UW (.390), FSU (.404)

Scoring: UW (5.61), FSU (6.15)

WCWS To Know

  • FSU is one of 8 teams in OKC vying for the National Championship. They join Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, Washington, Alabama, Stanford, and Utah.
  • Utah, Oklahoma State and Washington are on the same side of the bracket as the Seminoles.

Where to Watch

FSU vs. Washington is at 7 pm on ESPN

Tournament bracket

This thread will be updated as FSU moves through the WCWS

2023-06-02T04:38:42Z dg43tfdfdgfd