Florida State eliminates Tennessee-Chattanooga in dramatic finish

TUSCALOOSA | Tennessee-Chattanooga extended its stay at the NCAA Tuscaloosa Regional, but only by an inning.

Michelle Fuzzard's two-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning tied the game, but Florida State responded with a three-run outburst in the top of the eighth to take a 5-3 extra-inning victory at the Alabama Softball Complex.

Florida State scored a run in the second and another in the third and was on the verge of a shutout victory until Fuzzard bounced a homer off the top of the fence in straightaway center field.

Allie Baker hit a solo homer to left for UTC in the bottom of the eighth, but the Lady Mocs couldn't overcome FSU's lead again.

Winning pitcher Tiffany McDonald (17-11) allowed three runs on eight hits in eight innings with 17 strikeouts.

Losing pitcher Kandice Irwin gave up three runs on four hits with nine strikeouts in five innings of relief.

UTC finished 41-22. FSU (38-27) will play Jacksonville State in the loser's bracket final at approximately 8 p.m., with the inner to play Alabama in Saturday's 7:30 p.m. final, which will be televised on ESPN2.