Braden Shows Strong Defensive Effort, Pitt Falls to No. 10 Florida State

Friday, March 14

Tallahassee, FL

6 PM EST

Pitt

10-14, 0-4

Florida State

23-5, 1-0

Pittsburgh

Florida State

Braden Shows Strong Defensive Effort, Pitt Falls to No. 10 Florida State

3/14/2025 8:46:00 PM | Softball

Box Score

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Ahmari Braden hit her first career home run and made a pair of incredible defensive plays in left field, but Pitt was unable to overcome the strong offensive performance from No. 10 Florida State, dropping the first game of the series 8-3 Friday evening at JoAnne Graf Field.

The Panthers bounced back from a 5-0 deficit in the second inning with Braden's two-run homer to center field and Kaitlynn Brannstrom followed with a solo home run in the top of the third inning.

Braden had her first highlight play in the first inning after Jaysoni Beachum hit a deep line drive to left field that was just fair but was thrown out at second from a laser throw from Braden to record the second out.

The Seminoles came alive in the bottom of the second inning, scoring five runs on four hits. Hallie Wacaser got hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and then back-to-back doubles from Katie Dack and Jahni Kerr gave the Seminoles a 2-0 edge. Florida State scored two more runs off a Kennedy Harp single and walked in another run to go up 5-0. Braden ended the inning on another great catch in left field, crashing into the wall to save an extra base hit to clear the bases.

Braden got the Panthers on the board in the top of the third with a two-run home run to center field – her first career home run – to make the score 5-2. Brannstrom cut the deficit, 5-3, in the top of the fourth inning with a solo home run to right center field.

Beachum joined the home run party in the bottom of the fourth with a solo homer to left center to extend the lead 6-3. Amaya Ross hit an inside the park home run in the bottom of the fifth to add two more runs for the Seminoles.

Annabelle Widra earned the win for the Seminoles after allowing three runs on three hits and four strikeouts, over 4.0 innings. Kyra Pittman was saddled with the loss after allowing all eight runs over 4.0 innings.

UP NEXT
The Panthers will close out the series with the Seminoles in a doubleheader tomorrow, beginning at 1 p.m. Both games will be streamed on ACC Network Extra.