FSU softball advances past Duke to face Clemson in ACC Tournament Final

No. 3 seed FSU softball (51-5) built a 5-0 lead but had to come from behind to defeat No. 2 seed Duke (41-8) 8-6 and reach the ACC Tournament Finals.

The Noles will face Clemson in the tournament finals. The Noles had a big five-run second inning behind two-run home runs from Chloe Culp and Kalei Harding.

Kaley Mudge also had an RBI double in the frame. FSU starting pitcher Danielle Watson was dealing through the first three innings, surrendering a lone-run in(on what should have been an error).

However, Duke’s offense caught fire with two home runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth inning to trim the lead to 5-4.

Duke would tack on two more runs in the bottom of the fifth to lead 6-5 before FSU score three runs in the top of the sixth inning for the eventual game-winning score.

Kaley Mudge had an infield RBI single to tie the game at 6-6, and Sydney Sherill had the huge two-RBI double to give the Noles the lead for good. Danielle Watson finished the game with 3.1 innings pitched, five hits, four earned runs, no walks, and no strikeouts.

Kathryn Sandercock finished the game with 3.2 innings pitched, four hits, two earned runs, one walk, and six strikeouts. Mudge, Harding, and Michaela Edenfield had two hits each. Mudge, Sherrill, Harding, and Culp had two RBI each.

The No. 5 seed Clemson Tigers defeated No. 1 seed Virginia Tech to reach the finals. FSU swept Clemson in all three games earlier this year. The first two games were one-run wins, but FSU shut out the Tigers 6-0 in the Sunday contest.

Clemson has a lot of power and FSU pitchers will need to work down in the zone to keep the ball in the yard. The game will begin at 1 p.m. ET.