In the bottom of the fifth inning Gator Robinson, dressed in an all-gold uniform, stepped up to the plate. Despite playing sound defense as shortstop throughout the game, Robinson was 0-2 with a groundout and swinging strikeout as she went up to bat for a third time.
With the bases loaded and two outs, Boston College softball was down 5–3, looking for a spark.
Four pitches later, though, Florida State was running to the bench after Robinson struck out looking. It seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back for the Eagles, who did not score another run after the fact and let the Seminoles run away with the game.
In front of a packed crowd at Harrington Athletics Village, the contrast between the offense of the two squads decided the game. Despite an initial burst of offense from the Eagles (25–19, 5–13 Atlantic Coast, they faltered down the stretch as the Seminoles (36–10, 15–3) continued their offensive dominance to beat the Eagles 10–3 and sweep them in the weekend series.
The Seminoles started off the scoring early, notching a two run home run in the first inning by freshman Jaysoni Beachum. BC’s Haley Pappion limited the damage by forcing two consecutive strikeouts and a fly out.
The Eagles failed to respond in the bottom of the first and were shut down by Seminoles.
A scoreless second inning saw suffocating defense from both teams, highlighted by a leaping grab by Robinson at shortstop, who then threw out Hallie Wacaser at first base from the ground.
The third inning saw the Seminoles add to their total, as FSU’s Isa Torres’ sacrifice RBI sent Kaley Mudge home. But a defensive play from BC catcher Hannah Slike to catch a foul ball that soared behind her head, as well as a ground out to first base, helped the Eagles escape the third down by three.
Slike helped the Eagles offensively in the third, as her single through the right side sent Katelyn Deguire home and put the Eagles on the board for the first time.
Nicole Giery tied the ballgame with a two-run homer over the left field wall. As her teammates surrounded Giery at home plate, it seemed that the momentum had switched to the Eagles. However, a Robinson strikeout soon ended the inning.
A double from Mudge in the top of the fourth that sent Katie Dack and Devyn Flaherty through home plate put the pressure on the Eagles to respond.
Despite an unsuccessful effort from Jordan Stephens to complete an inside-the-park home run in the bottom of the fourth inning and loaded bases in the bottom of the fifth, BC could not convert on the opportunities.
The Seminoles took advantage of this and scored five more runs in the top of the sixth inning to put them up 10–3. An onslaught of four hits from four different Seminoles and a home run from Dack put the Eagles in a hole they could not recover from.
The Eagles could only muster one more hit in the last two innings, and as Giery grounded out to third base in the bottom of the seventh, the Eagles recorded their sixth straight loss, all to ranked opponents.
Saturday’s match between the two teams saw a similar result, but a different process.
The Eagles were on the board first by the end of the first inning, scoring one run off a homer from lead-off hitter Slike. BC held on to this one-run advantage up until the last inning, when the Seminoles scored four runs to take the lead.
BC was unable to respond in the bottom of the seventh, clinching the game for FSU at 4–1.
The eagles tallied six hits, with Slike and Jordan Stephans leading the team with two each. Kali Case and Jules Shields also added one hit each.
Slike’s home run was the lone run for the Eagles.
Abby Dunning was on the mound for the Eagles and pitched all seven innings, giving up three hits and four runs in 25 at-bats.
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