Column: Sandercock's Perfect Game is a Once-in-a-Lifetime Performance

For the first time since 2021, Florida State softball is bound for the NCAA Super Regional round. To get there, it took an individual effort for the ages.In the decisive game of the Tallahassee Regional, FSU pitcher Kathryn Sandercock put forward the performance of a lifetime. Sandercock needed just 59 pitches to toss a perfect game in a 1-0 win over South Carolina.After wins over Marist and UCF to open the Tallahassee Regional, a feeling of déjà vu crept over the home crowd at JoAnne Graf Field as the late morning became the middle of the afternoon. As the No. 2 national seed in 2022, the Seminoles entered the final day of the Tallahassee Regional with two chances to win one game. Two Mississippi State victories later and FSU's remarkable season was over.For FSU, Sunday started with a 4-0 loss to South Carolina, forcing a winner-take-all game less than an hour later. With the season on the line, there was no question as to who would get the ball. To get the job done, Sandercock didn't have to be perfect -- but she had to be pretty close.In South Carolina's shutout win to open the day, FSU had no answer for pitcher Donnie Gobourne. The Gamecocks' star thwarted any hope that FSU may have had for a comeback, retiring all 12 batters she faced, including four on strikeouts.

Gobourne didn't get the start in the second game, but was immediately inserted after FSU pushed across an unearned run following a Jahni Kerr bunt single and a throwing error. Overaggressive baserunning didn't help matters throughout the day for FSU, but with Gobourne in the circle for South Carolina, the margin for error was razor thin. Sandercock rose to that challenge.Sandercock was as efficient as she was dominant on Sunday. For five innings, the Gamecocks couldn't touch her. With FSU clinging to a 1-0 lead in the fifth, Mother Nature tried its hand at rattling the FSU ace.With Sandercock rolling, a lightning strike just within an 8-mile radius led to a 40-minute weather delay. With last year's Sunday debacle still fresh in the minds of the faithful in garnet and gold, Sandercock stood tall and finished what she started.The lightning speed with which she retired batters overshadowed the brief flashes that could be seen just outside the viewing distance of the ballpark. Sandercock worked multiple 4-pitch innings. The tarp covering the field was removed and the lightning ultimately subsided. So did any hopes of a South Carolina rally.

For Sandercock, shining on college softball's biggest stages is nothing new. It was just two short years ago that Sandercock picked up three victories and one save in a 5-game stretch at the Women's College World Series. For Sandercock, however, Sunday was also a chance for redemption.It was the Virginia native who ultimately took both losses on the final day of the Tallahassee Regional last season. For the FSU legend and fifth-year senior, it took a legendary performance to ensure that it didn't happen again and that her career would continue. It was the first perfect game in the NCAA Tournament in program history and first for any FSU pitcher since 2016.The No. 3 Seminoles will now move on to host No. 14 national seed Georgia in the Tallahassee Super Regional. How far FSU goes in the NCAA Tournament remains to be seen, but what we do know is that the season will go on.A 2-time All-American and this season's ACC Pitcher of the Year, Sandercock has nothing left to prove. But with the season on the line, Sandercock's performance on Sunday is one we won't soon forget and probably one unlike anything we'll see from an FSU pitcher ever again.

Mike Ferguson is the lead writer for Double Fries No Slaw. Be sure to follow Mike on Twitter at @MikeWFerguson. Follow all of Mike's work by liking his Facebook page.