Alabama’s Montana Fouts came into Monday night’s showdown after two of the most impressive performances in recent Women’s College World Series history.
She struck out 16 batters in her first start in Oklahoma City and then hurled a perfect game in her next one. But the Alabama starter didn’t make it out of the third inning against the Florida State Seminoles.
Elizabeth Mason hit a three-run homer in the first inning against Fouts, and then her teammates strung together a number of productive at-bats to chase the Alabama All-American and help lead the Seminoles to an 8-5 win on Monday night.
With the victory, FSU advances to the WCWS finals against No. 1 Oklahoma. The Seminoles and Sooners will square off in a best-of-3 series starting Tuesday night.
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It was evident early on that Fouts wasn’t going to decimate the FSU lineup like she had the previous two she had faced.
The first two batters reached base – after zero reached in her last start – to set the stage for senior Elizabeth Mason, who once again delivered an enormous hit for the Seminoles.
She blasted a massive homer to left-center to give FSU a 3-0 lead in the first inning against one of the best pitchers in the country.
Her teammates then chased Fouts from the game in the top of the third, putting up another five runs to take an 8-0 lead in the semifinal showdown.
Kalei Harding had a two-run single with two outs, Kaley Mudge had an RBI single and Sidney Sherrill followed with a double to left to score another run. Mudge went 5-for-5 for the game.
Florida State didn’t score another run, and Alabama battled back, with two runs in the third and three runs in the fifth. But the Crimson Tide couldn’t get any closer as the Seminoles wrapped up the 8-5 victory with a scoreless seventh inning.
Danielle Watson and Caylan Arnold both pitched in relief of ace Kathryn Sandercock to preserve the victory.
It was a record eighth straight win for the Seminoles in an elimination game in Oklahoma City, dating back to the 2018 College World Series.
Alabama had won 20 consecutive games going into the NCAA semifinals before losing two straight to FSU.
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