FSU softball: Takeaways from wins over North Florida and Jacksonville

FSU softball improves its record to (32-2, 7-2 ACC) with two more non-conference wins Wednesday afternoon.

The Noles defeated North Florida 12-3 in game one and Jacksonville 6-3 in game two. One of the things I was looking for in these non-conference games was for the offense to come back alive.

They passed that test with flying colors. FSU batters went 26-67 (.388 average) with seven doubles and a triple.

They had 10 walks and only struck out six times while scoring 18 runs over two games. Mack Leonard went 5-8 with six RBIs. Sydney Sherrill went 3-6 with three doubles and five runs scored. Sherrill was someone I pointed out that needed a better production going into this non-conference stretch, so it was good to see her swing it well.

Kalei Harding was another, and she finished 3-7 with two RBIs. These games were another opportunity for other FSU pitchers besides Kathryn Sandercock and Danielle Watson to see some action. Sandercock pitched 5.2 innings in game one for the win (16-0) but did allow three earned runs with five strikeouts and one walk.

Mack Leonard and Brianna Enter pitched the remaining 1.1 innings and didn’t allow a hit. Danielle Watson got the win (10-2) in game two with 3.1 innings pitched with four strikeouts and one walk with two earned runs allowed. Emma Wilson pitched a strong 3.2 innings without allowing a hit and had one strikeout and no walks.

FSU softball will return to conference play on Friday when they travel to Virginia for a three-game series. Friday’s game will begin at 6 p.m. and will air on the ACCNX channel. The Cavaliers are (21-13, 8-1 ACC) and coming off a midweek loss against Longwood. It’s a series FSU softball should win as long as the offense continues to show up as it has in non-conference action.