FSU softball: Sandercock shuts down No. 22 Virginia Tech in series opener

No. 5 FSU softball (37-8, 14-2 ACC) cruised past No. 22 Virginia Tech (33-13, 12-7 ACC) 4-1 in the series opener Thursday night.

The Noles got on the board in the top of the second inning with some heads-up baserunning by Hallie Wacaser.

A great slide by Wacaser at home plate after the Virginia Tech outfielder bobbled a base hit got things going. Kaley Mudge robbed Virginia Tech of a home run in the bottom of the second inning.

However, the two runs scored in the top of the fifth were the eventual winning runs as Kalei Harding and Mack Leonard doubled to drive in two runs.

Devyn Flaherty drove in an insurance run in the top of the sixth to make it 4-0 before Virginia Tech threatened with back-to-back hits to lead off the bottom of the sixth. However, Kathryn Sandercock worked out of the jam only allowing one run on a sacrifice fly. She only threw 65 pitches throw six innings.

Makenna Reid came in to get the save in the bottom of the seventh. Virginia Tech loaded the bases behind two weakly hit balls and a walk, but Reid forced a flyout for the final out. Sandercock went six innings, allowing one earned run, five hits, and one walk. Kaley Mudge and Jahni Kerr had two hits each, and the Noles had nine hits overall and two walks against four strikeouts.

However, the FSU offense left eight runners on base, which is something they need to avoid against a team that leads the nation in home runs.

The offense went 4-14 with runners on and 5-12 with two outs. Other than an error by Kalei Harding on the first play of the game for the defense, FSU was solid defensively with the lone error.

The Noles will be back in action Friday at 6 p.m. ET with the game airing on the ACCNX channel. Great first game for the Noles as they continue to perform well on the road in the ACC.