After getting swept by No. 13 Clemson in its last weekend series, the NC State softball team is trying to get back into the win column as it battles the No. 6 Florida State Seminoles in an important four-game series from Friday, April 30, to Sunday, May 2. Florida State’s rotation will try to shut down the potent NC State offense in a battle of strengths.
In its series down at McWhorter Stadium in South Carolina last weekend, the Pack (24-17, 14-15 ACC) went 0-4 against No. 13 Clemson. For most of the series, NC State battled until the end apart from the first game in which the Tigers blew the game out with a four-run inning en route to a 9-3 win.
The Pack struggled to close out two of the last three games. In the first, it held the lead leading into the final frame before giving up three runs to lose. The team lost by one in the final game of the series. What ultimately doomed the Wolfpack was the lack of run production, as it never achieved more than three runs in any of the games, something that needs to change in this matchup.
The Seminoles (33-6-1, 21-3-1 ACC) are coming off an up-and-down series against Louisville, where they saw their 16-game winning streak come to an end, dropping game two of the first doubleheader April 23.
Florida State did shut out Louisville in the final two games of the series, allowing four hits in total for both games. However, they were unable to score in the second game, which ended in a 0-0 tie in the 11th inning. That matchup was the longest game by the Seminoles since 2018 when they achieved an 8-5 victory in 11 innings over LSU.
These two teams are opposites when it comes to the production of their pitching staff compared to their offensive prowess. Florida State, behind Clemson, is 2ndin the ACC in ERA. Its two starting pitchers, Kathryn Sandercock and Caylan Arnold, lead the Seminoles pitching staff with a combined 27-6 record and 1.14 and 1.51 ERAs, respectively. On the offensive side of things, Florida State only has two players with a batting average above or at .300, and its total home runs and slugging percentage are near the bottom of the ACC rankings.
The Wolfpack is near the top in most offensive categories, leading the ACC in both home runs, with 63 on the year, and slugging percentage. The Pack has five players who are hitting above a .300 with at least 41 games played. Redshirt senior center fielder Angie Rizzi is leading the way with a .386 average.
The pitching staff hasn’t matched what the offense puts out on the field. The Pack’s ERA is 3.35 heading into this matchup with only one pitcher sporting a winning record, redshirt senior Abby Trahan, who is 11-6 with her ERA of 3.77.
As the Wolfpack heads into its final stretch of the season, every game counts, and this series will be a tough test against a talented Florida State team that makes up for its lack of offense with its stellar pitching staff.
This series will be an opportunity for the Pack to end its recent rough patch and make some noise against a top-10 opponent.
The action begins Friday, April 30, at 6 p.m. and continues through the weekend with a doubleheader Saturday, May 1, at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. The final game will be held Sunday at noon. All games will be broadcast live on ACC Network.
