Lonni Alameda explains Florida State’s pitching strategy, lack of Kathryn Sandercock in Game 1

Lonni Alameda told reporters on Wednesday that she did not consider bringing ace Kathryn Sandercock into the game in the middle innings of FSU’s 5-0 loss to Oklahoma in Game 1.

Sandercock was available out of the bullpen, but was only going to be used if Florida State had a lead, Alameda said. She’s expected to start Game 2 against the Sooners on Thursday night.

“Nope. If we had a lead, definitely could have done that,” Alameda said

. “Definitely sticking to the plan that we’ve had all year. I think they’re a really good team at making adjustments, so we needed to see what we had from our other pitchers too. And then once they got the lead, there was no reason to [bring Sandercock in].

Instead, Florida State went with Mack Leonard to start the game. Leonard pitched well, but was removed from the game with a runner on 1st and no outs in the 4th inning. Rather than turn to Sandercock in a tie game, F

lorida State went to freshman Makenna Reid.

The Sooners took advantage of that decision, scoring 3 runs in the 4th inning. They tacked on an additional run in the 5th against Ali DuBois and another in the 6th against Allison Royalty.

Oklahoma got 7 shutout innings from ace Jordy Bahl in Game 1. Alameda said the Noles will be prepared if they see Bahl again on Thursday night or if Patty Gasso goes with someone else.

“Now we’ve got Game 2,” she added. “If they go with Jordy, they go with Jordy. If they go with someone else then we’ve got a different look but at least we’ve got some looks at Jordy.”