Hartley leads Troy softball past No. 10 FSU

Published 10:22 pm Wednesday, March 18, 2015

TALLAHASSEE, Florida – A two-run blast in the top of the eighth inning from Becca Hartley, lifted Troy past No. 10 Florida State, 6-4, on Wednesday night at JoAnne Graff Field.

Becca Hartley had a stellar performance, finishing 2-for-4 with two timely home runs and three RBIs. The first home run was a solo shot that broke up a no-hitter in the fifth inning and the second gave the Trojans the lead in extra innings.

Jaycee Affeldt tied the game at four in the top of the seventh inning with a three-run bomb to left field scoring Hartley, who reached on an error, and Khadija Neely, who singled to center field.

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Three of Troy’s (17-12) five hits were home runs and every run scored via the long ball.

“I’m very proud of the fight and finish we showed today. I think we have been working on getting better everyday at practice, and have been playing good softball the last week and a half,” head coach Beth Mullins said. “We have a lot of season left to play and need to continue to get better every day.”

Florida State (23-7) scored two runs in the bottom of the second inning on a home run by Alex Powers. The Seminoles added two more in the bottom of the fifth and sixth to go up, 4-1.

Affeldt (9-4) got the start in the circle and struck out seven batters and only gave up four runs, three earned, on five hits in eight innings of work.

The win over Florida State was the first by Troy over a top-25 opponent since 2012, against then No. 22 Florida State. It was the first win over a top-10 foe since the Trojans defeated No. 8 UL Lafayette in the same year. It also was Beth Mullins first win over a ranked opponent as a head coach.

The Trojans will take on their second top-10 opponent of the week, when they travel to Lafayette, La., for a three-game series against Sun Belt foe No. 7 UL Lafayette beginning Saturday.