Women's College World Series | Georgia Holds Steady In 5-4 Win Over Florida State

It takes a lot to phase Georgia's softball team so a fast start by Florida State on Thursday morning didn't get the rattled in the least. The 16^th seeded Bulldogs had to bounce back to beat Oklahoma State in the regionals and then took out top-seeded Florida in the super regionals to advance to their first Women's College World Series appearance since 2010. So when Florida State jumped out to a 2-0 lead Thursday morning the ladies from the Peach State didn't think twice.

The eighth seeded Seminoles jumped to their early lead off the bat of Jessica Warren, who crushed the ball over the wall in center field for a 2-run homer, in the bottom of the first. The Bulldogs responded with two of their own in the top of the second and then took their first lead of the day with a two-run third. "Florida State is a very good team," Bulldogs pitcher Chelsea Wilkinson said in regards to the first inning home run. "I can't say enough about our offense and defense for having my back."

The eighth seeded Seminoles weren't going away without a fight though. Alex Powers hit her 15^th home run of the season, in the bottom of the sixth, to tie the game up a 4-4 and set the scene for some late game drama, but momentum would swing back to the Bulldogs one more time.

Georgia's Cortni Emmanuel led off the seventh with an infield single and then was able to swipe second. Florida State's seventh error of the game put Emmanuel on third and an RBI sacrifice from Alyssa DiCarlo brought her home for the 5-4 lead. Georgia pitcher Chelsea Wilkinson then picked up her 28^th win of the season by putting the Seminoles down in order to end the game.

"Yeah, not the outcome we wanted," FSU head coach Lonni Alameda said after the game, "we're kind of a young program, and it's all about learning. I don't know we've put errors like that up on the board but yet still have a chance in the sixth and seventh, so I think there's a lot of positive things we can pull from it and now it's just really understanding the pitch-by-pitch process at the highest level."

Georgia will face the winner of Auburn and UCLA on Friday while Florida State will take on the loser Saturday morning.