Fresh off a five game winning streak, the softball team is ready to take on its first ACC foe, the Florida State Seminoles. The series will take place Saturday and Sunday in Raleigh.
State is coming off an impressive series against Elon, where it won both games. The first was a close 4-2 matchup, whereas the second was a 13-1 blowout that ended in five innings.
The Wolfpack has definitely had its ups and downs throughout the course of the season. After starting its first two tournaments with a 6-4 record they went on a five-game losing streak that started in the second game of the Carolina Classic in Chapel Hill and could not pull out a win in the Tennessee Tech Combat Classic. However, the Pack was able to turn it around when it returned home to the Wolfpack Challenge where it picked up three wins and started a five-game winning streak.
According to junior pitcher Jade Henning, hard practices and work ethic has been the key to the Pack turning its season around and getting ready for ACC play.
“Practice, working hard, and staying together have been very important to us so far,” Henning said. “We have FSU coming up on Friday. We’re taking each team in the ACC seriously because you can’t take any of them for granted. This is a very competitive conference so we have to come out and compete everyday.”
The Seminoles will definitely give the Pack its first major test of the ACC portion of the season. Its record is currently sitting at 13-13, but the Seminoles finished third in the regular season ACC standings and made a run to the ACC Tournament Championship game last year, where they fell to Georgia Tech, 8-4.
Home field advantage could play a very important role for the Pack, as Florida State has yet to win a game on another team’s soil.
Senior Alyssa Allbritten believes home field advantage will definitely play a big role in the team’s success this weekend.
“There’s always an advantage when you’re playing on your home field,” Allbritten said. “You know the field very well, you know where the ball is going to bounce, so it’s definitely great to play on your own field.”
FSU senior Jen Lapicki has been having an excellent senior year. She is currently leading the Seminoles in batting average at .389 and has hit three home runs on the season. The Seminoles are also returning three All-ACC Tournament performers from last year’s squad, including Robin Ahrberg, Tiffani Brown and Sarah Hamilton. The Pack will definitely need to bring its high powered offense lead by Allbritten with a team-high .391 batting average and junior Bethany Wells who leads the team in home runs with four so far.
The game will begin at 1 p.m. Saturday at Dail Stadium.