Florida State beats Washington to earn breakthrough NCAA softball title

OKLAHOMA CITY — The Cardiac Kids have made Florida State history.

After so many close calls, they did it in a way that caused minimal cardiac issues to the FSU fanbase.

With its runaway 8-3 win over fifth-seeded Washington on Tuesday night, the No. 6 FSU softball team (58-12) completed a sweep of the Huskies to bring home the program's first NCAA championship in its first appearance in the Women's College World Series finals.

Through its first nine NCAA tournament games – including Monday's 1-0 FSU win – UW had allowed eight total runs.

With a crowd of 8,123 watching at USA Softball Hall of Fame Stadium, FSU matched that over the first four innings of Tuesday's win.

The Seminoles quickly turned an early deficit into a lead behind an explosive attack at the plate, hitting three homers and five extra-base hits.

Entering this year, FSU's nine WCWS appearances were the most by any team without a national championship.

The 10th time proved to be the charm.

The Seminoles won each of their final six games – the final five of which came against top-five teams from the Pac-12.

“I think that’s every senior’s dream, is to leave with a ‘W,’ to end their season on a ‘W,’ ” Florida State third baseman Jessie Warren said.

“That was one of the goals. I am so proud of this team. This university has done so much for me. This coaching staff has taken me under their belt as their own child. I came into this program as a kid and I’m leaving it as a strong woman. I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way.”

Not only is it the Seminoles' first title, it's the first NCAA softball championship team for any team from the Atlantic Coast Conference.

“These kids took a chance on us and the dream to be here,” Florida State coach Lonni Alameda said.

“People contact us because they want to play in the national championship game and that’s what we want to teach and coach. To be told that you can only be in other conferences – now we’ve come through and you don’t. You can go to the ACC and you can play at different schools. It means so much for the growth of the game.”

The softball team brings FSU its eighth NCAA team title across all sports, its first since 2014.

The Seminoles are the fifth team in the fourth sport to win an NCAA team championship in program history, joining football (1993, 1999, 2013), men’s track and field (2006, 2007 - though forfeited - 2008, all outdoor), women’s track and field (1984 indoor, 1985 outdoor) and women’s soccer (2014).

Against the Wall

Much speculation was made after FSU's 1-0 win in the WCWS Finals about how this team that has thrived in must-win situations would perform in a non-elimination game.

FSU's six wins in elimination games in this year's NCAA tournament tied the record for the most in a single year.

Tuesday's game against UW was just FSU's second in the last nine games where the Seminoles were not facing elimination.

That idea shifted quickly when the Huskies opened up a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

Back in familiar territory, the Seminoles wasted little time doing what they do and overcoming adversity.

“You eye it up and you kind of look around and you walk in there with a big smile and be like, ‘We’re the cardiac kids. We need to be down by three in order to perform. We’re right where we want to be,’ ” Alameda said of her message to the team.

“So they all kind of laugh.”

FSU cut the deficit to 3-2 after one inning on "Postseason" Anna Shelnutt's second home run in as many days and fifth of the postseason.

The next inning, the Seminoles staked themselves to a 5-3 lead on right fielder Elizabeth Mason's two-run single to right followed by an RBI single to left by Jessie Warren.

FSU added three more on back-to-back homers from Mason and Warren to make it 8-3 through four innings and the rout was on.

"Thank God, ‘Postseason Anna’ did it, and here we are,” Alameda said.

On the Hill

Eyebrows were raised when Alameda elected to ride the hot hand and start redshirt junior Meghan King once again on Tuesday.

Yes, King (26-6) threw a five-hit shutout against the Huskies the previous day, but they had just seen her and she was viewed as the likely pitcher in the winner-take-all game Wednesday.

Although it didn't seem like it at first, the gamble paid off.

After a rocky start in which her defense hindered her substantially, King settled in.

Starting with her first out of the first inning after the first three batters reached base, King set down the next 11 batters and 21 of the next 25 batters she faced.

She finishes her ridiculous WCWS run having allowed one earned run over 34⅓ innings of work – a 0.20 earned run average, the lowest ERA in a WCWS in NCAA history.

While King dealt, FSU tagged UW starter Taran Alvelo (23-5) for a season-high seven runs, six earned, on seven hits over 3⅔ innings of work, bumping her ERA up from 1.10 to 1.30.

Position Player of the Game

Instead of highlighting a single player here, it's worth mentioning the season that became a historic one offensively for the Seminoles in a number of categories.

All nine members of the FSU starting lineup for the WCWS finals had at least one extra-base hit over the team's time in Oklahoma City.

In large part thanks to that late charge, FSU set new program records for most doubles (115) and home runs (76) in a single season.

Freshman second baseman Sydney Sherrill tied the NCAA record for most doubles in a single season with her 29th double in the fourth inning Tuesday.

Warren leaves FSU in the NCAA all-time top 10 in home runs (83, tied for eighth) and RBI (273, eighth) and matched the NCAA record with 13 hits in a single WCWS after her 3 for 4 performance in Tuesday's clinching win.

Looking Ahead

Although it seems weird to be looking ahead to next season immediately after a program's first-ever national title, it bears mention.

The loss of Warren cannot be overstated in importance and FSU also loses pitcher Kylee Hanson and outfielders Morgan Klaevemann and Korina Rosario.

In spite of these losses, FSU brings back King for her senior season and seven of the nine regular members of the batting order.

As such, it's not ridiculous in the least to say that FSU could be back in a similar situation next year.

Contributing: Associated Press