A return to the top of the mountain will have to wait.

Looking to become the third consecutive college softball team to repeat as NCAA Champions, the Florida State Seminoles were undone by some untimely mistakes in the field.

FSU committed a season-high four errors -- including three over a two-batter span -- which led to two unearned runs in the deciding third game of the Tallahassee Super Regional.

That ended up being the difference as the No. 4 Seminoles (55-10) fell 3-2 to No. 13 Oklahoma State (44-15) with 1,426 fans at JoAnne Graf Field on a scorching Saturday afternoon, giving the Cowgirls their first Women's College World Series appearance since 2011.

"It was just a wave of emotion back and forth. I can say we just didn't play our best softball this time," Alameda said.

"There's no rhyme or reason to it, but what I'm so proud of is we didn't give in to anything. We kept fighting."

Trailing 1-0 in the third inning, FSU pitcher Meghan King bobbled a bouncer back her way, allowing OSU's Chelsea Alexander to take first.

The next batter laid down a bunt and the throw to second from third baseman Sydney Sherrill was off the mark and flew into center field.

One rundown later, an errant throw from FSU first baseman Carsyn Gordon to the plate allowed Alexander to come in to score.

The Cowgirls added another run on a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning when a leadoff hit-by-pitch led to a runner on third after Anna Shelnutt's throw to second base to catch the stealing runner sailed into center.

"We knew this was going to be a grind. We knew this was going to take everything we've got. It did," OSU coach Kenny Gajewski said.

"The ball just went our way today. Make no mistake, we took it, we had to take it. They were not going to give this thing away."

While FSU hurt its chances with mistakes in the field, it also never got its offense going against the Cowgirls.

The Seminoles -- who entered the weekend averaging 7.2 runs per game -- averaged just 2.7 runs per game.

With the loss, FSU's lengthy streak without consecutive Women's College World series appearances continues. The Seminoles haven't made back-to-back WCWS appearances since 1992 and 1993.

In the Circle

With their seasons on the line, both teams again relied on their aces inside the circle.

FSU senior Meghan King and OSU senior Samantha Show each made their third start in as many games this weekend.

After two scoreless innings, King allowed a solo homer to OSU's Chyenne Factor to lead off the third and then allowed a second run which was unearned.

She finished allowing two runs, one earned, on two hits over three innings of work, bringing her weekend total to 19.1 innings.

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From there, the Seminoles turned to freshman pitcher Kathryn Sandercock. She did her part to give FSU its chance at a comeback, surrendering no earned runs over four innings of one-hit work on the mound.

After FSU chased Show in the fifth inning, OSU turned to Logan Simunek after she threw four scoreless innings Friday.

Simunek escaped the tough jam she inherited and allowed one run on one hit over the final 2.2 innings to secure the Cowgirls' victory.

Around the Horn

Despite facing her three times over the majority of the Tallahassee Super Regional, the FSU offense was never really able to figure the OSU pitchers out.

The Cowgirls' staff once again shut down the Seminoles' attack in Saturday's rubber match.

While FSU's entire lineup has proven to be dangerous, its top three hitters have led the way for much of the season.

Cali Harrod, Carsyn Gordon and Sydney Sherrill entered the weekend each hitting .352 or better with a combined 46 homers, 92 extra-base hits and 141 runs batted in.

Over the three-game series against OSU, those three were a combined 2 for 26 (.077) with two singles, five walks and eight strikeouts.

No moment was a more poignant example of this than the FSU sixth inning. After the Seminoles' cut the OSU lead to 2-1 and had runners on second and third with one, Simunek struck out Harrod and got Gordon to hit a hard lineout to the shortstop to retain the lead.

"If Carsyn's ball gets through there, we're probably running around pretty excited right now. That's just the way the game goes," Alameda said.

"Unfortunately, we signed up for a game of failure, we've got to be happy about it and we've signed up for a game where breaks go either way."

Gajewski agreed with this assessment.

"The margin of error is always (very small) this time of year," Gajewski said.

"Gordon smashed that ball. The fact that it was right at us, you’ve got to have those kind of breaks.

The Seminoles, as a whole, struggled over the weekend with runners in scoring position. They had just two hits in 12 at-bats with runners on base Saturday and hit .176 with runners on base over the series.

FSU -- which entered the weekend with a nation-leading 104 home runs -- finally got its first homer of the weekend from Anna Shelnutt in the seventh inning Saturday, but the comeback came up just short.

Up Next

The loss ends the Seminoles' season short of Oklahoma City. FSU loses four seniors in King, Gordon, Harrod and Zoe Casas off this year's roster.

They finish their careers with a 223-40-1 record -- the second-best of any school in the country over the last four years -- and brought the Seminoles their first NCAA Championship in program history last season.

"Couldn't be more proud of them," Alameda said of her seniors.

"They're a big reason why this program is where it is. This senior class has done tremendous. You can sit up here all day long and talk about their skills on the field, but off the field is just as strong and I'm just as proud."

Still, FSU again brings back a solid core from this year's team and should again be in contention for a top-eight seed in next year's NCAA Tournament.