It was standing room only at the UNF Softball Complex. 

The Florida State Seminoles were in town facing off against an 18-win UNF team. In front of a record crowd of 729 fans, the UNF softball team fought hard against the nationally ranked FSU team, but ultimately, the Ospreys lost 5-3 in seven innings. 

Game Summary

After allowing a leadoff single, starting pitcher Allison Benning retired the next three Seminoles, posting a zero to open the game. 

The Ospreys offense went down quickly in the home half, and the first inning ended without scoring from either squad. Benning continued her strong start to the game by notching the first two outs to start the second inning. 

Despite this, FSU did what many would expect from a top ten team: starting two-out rallies and drawing first blood. Following a single, Annabelle Widra crushed a two-out home run to give the Seminoles the early 2-0 lead. 

It didn’t take long for UNF to respond. Taking advantage of an FSU infield error, Hadlee Reichert mashed a single to cut the Seminoles’ lead in half. FSU responded in the third inning by scoring two runs before a single out was recorded. 

The Seminoles scored those runs thanks to a home run and double, but the damage could’ve been worse. UNF locked in and retired the next three FSU players to keep the score at 4-1.

During the fourth inning, new Ospreys pitcher Kylah Berry worked around a pair of two out walks to earn a scoreless inning for UNF. Trailing 4-1, Kirsten Caravaca opened the bottom of the fourth with a line-drive single to left field. 

With one out, Reichert responded with a base hit to left center, the senior’s second hit on the night. A wild pitch moved two UNF baserunners into scoring position, putting former FSU Seminole Chole Culp in a great spot to do some damage against her former team. 

The Tallahassee native did just that, launching a flyball into right field to cut the FSU lead. While a sacrifice fly normally scores just one run, the FSU right fielder committed an error and the Ospreys scored two runs on the play. This brought the Ospreys even closer, as UNF trailed by just one run after four innings. 

Postgame Reaction/Coaches Thoughts

UNF wasn’t trailing by one for long. FSU answered right out of the gate in the fifth inning with a solo home run by Katie Dack. In the home half of the inning, a close play at home was ruled in FSU’s favor, preserving the 5-3 Seminole advantage. 

The Ospreys failed to produce another baserunner for the rest of the game. On the positive side for UNF, new pitcher Cameron Ponich blanked the Seminoles in the sixth and seventh. 

Even though his team lost, head coach Jeff Conrad credited their ability to stay in the game. 

“I really thought we played well, I know we competed hard,” Conrad said. “We fell behind 2-0 and fought our way right back…We’re right there, that’s one of the best teams in the country and we’re blow for blow with them.”

Conrad said errors and home runs were the difference in this game. 

“Really the big thing that’s hurt us is that we’re having a hard time keeping the ball in the park,” Conrad said. “We can’t play defense against balls that are going over the middle so i think if we can get that cleaned up, then we’re right there.”

Most of all, Conrad said UNF has a chance to be one of the best in the ASUN conference if “this team” shows up for the duration of the season. 

“We’ve got to find ways to really build confidence from this,” Conrad said. “You know, looking at really being one of the elite teams in the ASUN.”

As part of the ‘Spring Break Challenge’, UNF will host a slew of home games this weekend, starting with a doubleheader against St John’s and Mercer on Fri, Mar. 7. First pitch is at 4:30 p.m

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