Kalei Harding ties record with 7 RBIs, leads FSU Softball to first win of 2024
Courtesy of Florida State Sports Information
Kalei Harding’s record night of 7 RBIs, on a pair of home runs, helped the No. 4 Florida State softball team (1-1) roll to a convincing 11-0 win in five innings over Charlotte (1-1) on Friday night at JoAnne Graf Field. It was the Seminoles’ first win of the season after they fell in extra innings to Charlotte on Thursday.
Florida State opened up the scoring in the bottom of the first inning. Jahni Kerr drew a leadoff walk, and Michaela Edenfield singled to move Kerr to third. Harding then came to bat and smashed a three-run home run to center field to make the score 3-0.
Jaysoni Beachum singled and later scored on an RBI single from Kerr to make it 4-0 in the second. Then Amaya Ross walked and scored in the third, thanks to an RBI single from Katie Dack.
Florida State then really blew things open with six runs in the fourth.
Isa Torres started things off with a line-drive single to left field. Kerr followed that with a walk, and Edenfield snuck a single toward third base to load the bases. Harding then came in and drove the ball out of the park for the first grand slam of the year and her second home run of the night, extending the lead to 9-0.
Harding’s 7 RBIs tied for the most in Florida State history, joining Anna Shelnutt, who accomplished the feat in 2017 against Virginia in the ACC Tournament. This was Harding’s sixth multi-home run game of her career. She also surpassed 150 RBIs for her career.
The Seminoles continued the onslaught as Devyn Flaherty drew a walk and reached second on a Ross single. Beachum then brought Flaherty home to make it 10-0 with an RBI single to center field, and Torres doubled to score Ross for the game’s final run.
The freshman duo of Torres and Beachum are a combined 8-for-15 with 3 RBIs in the Seminoles’ first two games.
Allison Royalty picked up the win in the circle, going four innings and allowing just three hits while striking out five. Mimi Gooden made her first career appearance in the fifth inning and sat the 49ers down in order to end the game.
Florida State will return to The Plex on Saturday to take on Texas Tech and Florida A&M. The doubleheader is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., and both games can be seen on ACC Network Extra.
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