March 26, 2005
ATLANTA – No. 21 Georgia Tech (31-7, 4-1 ACC) snapped a nine-game losing streak against No. 24 Florida State (20-14, 3-4 ACC) behind a dominating performance from senior pitcher Jessica Sallinger (16-5) who tossed her eighth career no-hitter, striking out 10, in the opener and tallied her first save of the season in the nightcap to lead the Yellow Jackets to a sweep over the Seminoles, 2-0 and 3-1, at Glenn Field on Saturday afternoon.
Sallinger, a native of Kennesaw, Ga., moved into ninth place all-time in the NCAA with 1,233 career strikeouts. Sophomore Caitlin Lever led the offensive attack for Tech in game one, going 2-for-3, with one RBI and a triple. Freshman Kacey Ivey went 1-for-2, with one RBI and junior Amy Hosier finished 1-for-3, with a double.
Sophomore Sarah Wood (8-1) threw 6 1/3 strong innings in game two, allowing one run, five hits and struck out a career-high nine batters to lead Tech in the circle. Lever, Hosier and senior Katie Donovan each drove in runs for the Jackets in game two.
In game one, the Jackets got on the scoreboard first in the bottom of the second inning as freshman Kacey Ivey tallied an infield single to third base to drive in Hosier who doubled off the right field fence and moved over to third base on a ground out.
Freshman Aileen Morales led off the bottom of the third inning with a base hit to right field and scored on a triple by Lever. Junior Christine Sheridan then drove a ball into center field, but the Seminoles’ Whitney Buckmon threw Lever out at home plate to record a double play. After consecutive walks, FSU pitcher Casey Hunter recorded the final out on a ground ball to the circle as Tech led 2-0 after three innings of play.
Sallinger cruised over the final four innings, allowing just three base runners on two walks and a Tech error to lift the Jackets over the 24th-ranked Seminoles, 2-0.
In game two, the Jackets wasted little time taking their first lead of the game as Tech scored two runs in the first inning. With the bases loaded and one out, Hosier walked to plate Lever who reached on a hit-by-pitch and Donovan drove in the second run with a ground ball to second base as the Seminoles failed to record the out at the plate to score Sheridan.
Ivey led off the bottom of the second inning with an infield single and senior Kirin Kumar followed with a bunt single to first base, and Ivey moved over to third base on an error by the FSU first baseman. Kumar stole second base to put runners on second and third with no outs. After a ground out, Lever drove in Ivey on a ground ball to second base as Tech went ahead 3-0.
FSU’s Melissa Wood homered in the top of the fourth inning to put the Seminoles on the scoreboard as the Tech’s lead shrunk to two, 3-1. The Seminoles threatened again in the fifth inning as Buckmon was hit-by-a-pitch and stole second base. She moved over to third on a ground out and was thrown out a home plate by Kumar to end the threat and the inning as Tech continued to lead by two.
After going down in order in the sixth inning, the Seminoles posted three consecutive hits to load the bases and chase Wood out of the game. Sallinger entered the circle for the Jackets with one out and shut down the threat with two strikeouts and preserve a 3-1 win for the Jackets.
Tech swept a doubleheader from FSU for the first time since the 2000 season. Both teams will meet in the third and final game of the Atlantic Coast Conference series on Sunday at Noon, weather permitting.
-GT SOFTBALL-
