Softball Loses Heartbreaker To No. 10 Florida State

The No. 5 Oklahoma softball team fought tooth and nail with No. 10 Florida State before falling in the bottom of the seventh inning by a score of 3-2 Saturday evening at the NFCA Leadoff Classic in Columbus, Ga. Sophomore hurler Nicole Denes struck out a career-high 11 batters and threw one of the best games of her young career despite taking the loss. With the loss OU is 14-4-1 on the season, while FSU improves 16-1 with the victory.

Florida State ace Casey Hunter sent the Sooners down in order in the first two innings. Hunter had control problems in the third inning as she walked the base loaded for junior Christina Enea. Enea capatilized on the opportunity with a two-run single up the middle that plated freshman Amber Spaulding and sophomore Kristin Vesely. Enea's single was the Sooners first hit of the game and gave OU the 2-0 lead.

Boxscore

Florida State's No. 3 hitter Jessica van der Linden matched Enea with a two-run single of her own in the bottom half of the third inning. Linden's base knock knotted the game at 2-2.

Nicole Denes, who worked seven innings in OU's 5-1 win over DePaul earlier in the day, worked out of jams all day. No situation was more crucial than in the bottom of the fifth when FSU had runners on second and third and their best hitter, van der Linden, at the plate with one out. Denes worked the outside corner to perfection as she left the Seminole slugger standing in the box on the third strike. Denes wasn't done as she punched out clean-up hitter Elisa Vasquez for the final out of the inning.

With momentum generated from Denes' work on the mound OU had a potential rally going in the top of the sixth. The Sooners loaded the bases with one out but couldn't capitalize as Spaulding and Denes went down on strikes.

Van der Linden and Denes dueled again in the bottom of the seventh with the Seminole slugger coming out on top this time. Van der Linden drove a double to the left field wall that gave FSU the game by a score of 3-2. Denes gave up three earned runs, on eight hits and three walks. Denes threw 13.3 innings on the day and struck out a total of 17 batters between the two games.

OU will face Michigan at 8 a.m. (CST) Sunday in the consolation portion of the gold bracket. No. 20 South Carolina defeated No. 7 Michigan 3-1 in an international tiebreaker game that went eight innings. The Sooners, who are 2-2 in the tournament, could face their toughest competition of the weekend on Sunday. If OU defeats No. 7 Michigan they will meet the winner of No. 4 Washington and Central Michigan.

Oklahoma and Florida State were scheduled to play in the Sunshine State Classic on Feb. 13, but the game and entire tournament were cancelled due to non-stop rains in Tallahassee.

Softball Loses Heartbreaker To No. 10 Florida State

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Softball Loses Heartbreaker To No. 10 Florida State

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