The Sports Inquirer

Report from Florida State media relations staff:

The No. 3-ranked and No. 8-seeded Florida State Seminoles (55-7) have arrived in Oklahoma City and are getting prepared for their eighth appearance in the NCAA Women’s College World Series. Florida State will face No. 1 Oregon on Thurs., May 29 at 1:30 p.m. CT in its first game of the tournament.

“We have had this goal since day one to come out to Oklahoma City, and now we get to live it,” said head coach Lonni Alameda. “These girls have worked so hard on and off the field to get us to where we are and we have earned this spot. I am confident that as we continue to play Seminole Softball and trust in the process that got us here, we will be successful.”

Oregon is making its third trip to the NCAA Women’s College World Series after sweeping through their regional and super regional rounds. They are 54-7-1 on the season and were champions of the Pac-12 with a 20-3-1 conference mark. They are led by pitcher Cheridan Hawkins, who is top-5 in the NCAA in wins and strikeouts, as well as third baseman Courtney Ceo who leads the NCAA with a .492 batting average.

Lacey Waldrop leads the Seminole pitching staff and has an NCAA-leading 38 wins on the season. She was named the USA Softball National Player of the Year on May 27 and is the second Seminole to win the award (Jessica van der Linden, 2004). The Chester, Va., native has a 1.01 ERA in 257.1 innings and has recorded 282 strikeouts this season.

Waldrop earned NFCA All-Region First Team honors and was joined on the team by Maddie O’Brien and Courtney Senas. O’Brien leads the nation in slugging percentage (.964) and RBI (83) and is second in home runs (24). Senas is batting .349 this season with 12 doubles, 15 home runs and 57 RBI.