Florida State never gave up in coming through the loser’s bracket to claim its first NCAA Women’s Softball Championship

Seminoles survive six elimination games to become first ACC school to win title, wrapping it up Tuesday night, 8-3, with a chili-hot finish at the Hall of Fame Stadium

By Arnie Leshin 

Cast the SEC and Pac-12 as conferences that, in numbers, dominated the annual Women’s NCAA Division I Softball Championship, but the Atlantic Coast Conference’s Florida State had the last wordon the playing field.

In surviving six elimination games, the Seminoles’ final statement came in hoisting the championship trophy Tuesday night after turning back Washington in back-to-back days at the Hall of Fame Stadium in Oklahoma City.

On Monday’s day one of the best-of-3 initial time on this stage for the 6th

seeded Seminoles, it was junior southpaw MeghanKing dealing from the circle, senior third baseman Jessie Warren supplying the defense, and sophomore Anna Shelnutt’s solo home run that brought a 1-0 victory.

Then came day two on Tuesday and FSU never let down, becoming the first ACC school to win this event by coming from behind and leaving the Huskies in the rear of the 8-3 success that brought the celebration.

The SEC had all of its 11 softball programs in the 64-school field and the Pac-12 had six, but while Washington of the Pac-12 made it this far, and its conference got four schools into the World Series, the SEC fell short at this World Series won the past two years by Oklahoma.

But while the Huskies eliminated the Sooners with a pair of shutouts, the Seminoles just played the elimination game to finish at a 58-12 and become only the third school to win the title coming out of the loser’s bracket.

“Fight, we showed fight, never quit,” said Warren, the Most Valuable Player of the WS. “We just kept playing to get here.”

After first hosting the Regional in Tallahassee and getting past Auburn, 2-1, in eight innings, ousting Kennesaw State, and blanking Jacksonville State, 10-0, in the Regional final, in the Super Regional that followed in Tallahassee, Florida State had to bail out of a first-game 6-5 loss to LSU, and defeat the Bayou Tigers, 8-3 in 11 frames, and then 3-1 to get to the Elite Eight.

There, it again opened with a setback, this one 7-6 versus 3rd seeded UCLA, but still the ACC champion wouldn’t quit while knowing one more loss sends it home just as what happened to its 4thranked baseball program that bowed out to Auburn in the Super Regional played at home.

Washington was on a high entering the championship round. It was a team that won its first 28, and was ranked number one several times before injuries set in and knocked it down in the ranking. The Huskies, with quality pitching and solid defense, wound up at 55-10, but couldn’t get their bats working against King, who hails from Parkland, Fl., and attended Douglas High School.

King was often referred to as her team’s No. 2 hurler behind Kylee Hanson, but with each start she progressed and Hanson did not throw a single pitch in the World Series.

In game one against Washington, King allowed five hits, struck out seven and walked a pair.

In game two, she was reached for three runs in the Huskies’ first at bats, but that was it as the Seminoles answered with two of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a two-run clout by Shelnutt, then tacked on five more runs on their way to championship time, the first ever for the program. Here, King again went the distance, giving up four hits, striking out five and walking one.

“I worked hard all season to get better,” she said. “I got good coaching advice, bettered my control, and increased my confidence. And each time I came off the circle, there was Kylee to greet me with hugs. We played as a team to get this far.”

Following the defeat to UCLA, FSU eliminated Georgia, 7-2, and then top seeded Oregon, 4-1. Next came the rematch with the Bruins and again the Seminoles showed their spunk, first downing the 11-time national champion, 3-1, and then ousting it via a 12-6 romp in the deciding contest.

There was only one hour between the two games, and while the Bruins had freshman standout Rachel Garcia, FSU again called on King and she was ready, with Hanson to relieve if necessary. But for UCLA, it became musical chairs in the circle, with Garcia going only one inning and it was clear that the Bruins simply did not have the depth on this day.

As for Florida State, it got there to the best-of-3 series, the first time ever on this stage. And while the Huskies were probably favored because they were playing so well, when King picked up a grounder to the circle on Tuesday and happily fired it to first base, it was all over but the shouting from the FSU faithful and the hugging from the players and coaches.

It was a job well done by a team that never quit, never let up, and to see it carry that trophy and put on those championship shirts and caps, it made it clear to never give up.