College Softball World Series : Titans Take Care of Florida St., 3-0

It has been only five years since the Florida State softball team won a national championship, but that does not stand the Seminoles in good stead at the College World Series. Both of Florida State’s titles--in 1981 and 1982--were in slow-pitch softball.

This, as they say, is a different ballgame. This is fast-pitch softball, a game Florida State has played only since 1984, after the NCAA declared it would no longer recognize slow-pitch records.

Now the Seminoles have achieved their highest-ever fast-pitch ranking (ninth) and are one of two teams making their first fast-pitch College World Series appearance (Central Michigan is the other).

None of this was of any help to the Seminoles in a first-round game against Cal State Fullerton, the top-ranked defending champion. The Titans, who made little secret of the fact they were glad to open against Florida State, took a 3-0 victory over the Seminoles Thursday night in front of 800 at Seymour Smith Field in the first round of the eight-team, double-elimination tournament.

Connie Clark (32-3) pitched a three-hitter to lead the Titans (58-8), who will play Texas A&M;, a 3-0 winner over Central Michigan, in the second round tonight at 8:30.

Florida State (50-13) will play the loser of that game. In other second-round games, UCLA meets Nebraska and Arizona State plays Fresno State.

For their part, the Titans, who have played in five of six NCAA College World Series, were fairly relaxed, and put in what Coach Judi Garman called their “best-ever” first-round appearance. It was the first time, Garman said, the Titans have not gone to extra innings in the series opener.

For the Seminoles, it was a bit different. They held Fullerton hitless through three innings, or until approximately the time that Seminole pitcher Julie Larsen, a Marina High School graduate, could be heard to say from the bench, “I just realized we’re in Omaha.”

The next inning, Fullerton scored two runs--one of them unearned--on three hits. With two out, freshman Tiny Glomboske and senior Lisa Baker each singled. Missy Coombes, another freshman, drove in Glomboske with a bloop single that dropped between shortstop Tiffany Daniels and second baseman Suzanne Cooper. Baker, who had gone to third on the play, scored on the next pitch, a passed ball by catcher Carolyn Fiero with Michelle Gromacki at the plate.

“I thought we had a good chance if we could keep them from scoring through about five,” said JoAnne Graf, Florida State coach. “But when they scored in the fifth our kids decided now they’ve got us.”

Larsen, a junior who led Marina to second place in the 1984 Southern Section 4-A championships and has won 68 of 79 starts in three years at Florida State, agreed.

“After the first run, we let down like the game was over.”

Fullerton added another run in the fifth, when Chenita Rogers singled to drive in Alani Silva, who had singled and gone to second on Cheryl Dazalla’s sacrifice bunt.

Florida State could have ended the inning on Rogers’ at-bat. The run-scoring single came after third baseman Jill Bellamy and Fiero, the catcher, collided and missed a foul pop near the fence that would have been the last out.

The Seminoles were disappointed with the loss, but claimed to have earned a little respect with it.

“We held close,” Graf said.