No. 2 ‘Noles host Tallahassee Regional: opponent preview, how to watch, stream, and game thread

After winning the ACC Tournament title, Florida State softball now knows their postseason picture, and it starts in Tallahassee this weekend. The number 2 overall seed will host Howard, South Florida and Mississippi State.

Howard Bison

Coming out of the MEAC, the Bison are fresh off of a conference tournament title. After taking the first game of the tournament in extra innings, they fell to top seeded Morgan State, placing them in the loser's bracket. Through the losers bracket they took out Norfolk State and won two more against Morgan State.

Overall, head coach Tori Tyson has led her team to a 31-22 season with a 17-4 conference record. They faced one Power 5 opponent in Iowa State,but fell twice to the Cyclones both times by the run rule. In conference, they only dropped one series to Norfolk State, while either sweeping or taking two of three games from every other series.

Hitting

While they are not a power hitting team, they do hit for average and bring speed on the bases. Leading the charge is Freshman Alyssa Vasquez who is batting .378 in 51 games. Vasquez is the power hitter on this team, she has 17 doubles and 7 homeruns to bring in 47 runs.

Senior Camille Navarro has speed in the lineup. While batting .360, Navarro has 62 hits, 51 runs, 14 doubles, 7 triples, 15 walks and is 16 for 19 on stolen bases. Fellow Senior, Kalita Dennis continues the speed with 11 stolen bases in 15 attempts. Her 9 doubles rank third on the team.

Pitching

Graduate Senior Analise De La Roca is the leader on the pitching staff. Her 133.1 innings pitched are by far the most on the team and she has an overall ERA of 3.05. With 500 batters faced, De La Rocas has allowed 117 hits, 80 runs, 70 walks, 90 strike outs and 9 home runs.

South Florida Bulls

The Bulls are coming off a loss to UCF in the American Conference tournament title game. Head coach Ken Erickson has his team with a 44-14 record, and 12-5 AAC record. USF is lead in the circle by Senior pitcher Georgina Corrick, who has broken a number of records in her final season. USF is not a power team, with only 29 home runs on the season. They have multiple players with over 10 stolen bases, giving them a team total of 120-135 in stolen bases per attempt.

USF started their season off with a ranked win over Michigan, before falling to Florida. During the St.Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational, the Bulls won 3 of 4 matchups, adding a ranked win against Oklahoma State.

Pitching

Corrick has pitched 266.1 innings on the season, with 110 hits, 29 runs, 31 walks and 407 strike outs. She leads the country in innings pitched, 3rd in ERA, 3rd in hits per 7 innings, 1st in shutouts, 1st in SO/BB ratio, 1st in strikeouts and 1st in victories.

In terms of innings pitched, Senior Erin Poepping sits behind Corrick. In 58.1 innings, Poepping has allowed 40 hits, 34 runs, 36 walks, and recorded 40 strikeouts.

Hitting

Junior Alexis Johns brings the speed for South Florida sitting in the leadoff spot. Johns leads the nation in stolen bases, as well as stolen bases per game, she has only been caught twice in 60 attempts. Her .348 batting average leads the team as well has her 54 runs scored, 57 hits, 4 triples and 30 walks. She is the only player on the team batting over .300.

Redshirt Sophomore Meghan Sheehan is batting .297 on the year. In 56 games played, Sheehan has 21 runs, 46 hits, 9 doubles, as well has a team leading 29 RBI. When getting on base, she is 10 for 12 in stolen bases.

Mississippi State Bulldogs

Coming out of the SEC, Mississippi State sits 11th in the conference, with an overall record of 33-24 and 10-14 in conference. The Bulldogs started off their season with a win against LMU, and loses to Oklahoma and UCLA. They took wins from Florida, Tennessee, Missouri, Auburn, Kentucky and LSU while sweeping Ole Miss.

Pitching

Graduate Senior Annie Willis leads the charge for the Bulldogs in the circle. In 110.1 innings, Willis has struck out 127, walked 56 and given up 95 hits, 62 runs and 14 home runs. Willis has a 2.73 ERA through 33 appearances.

Behind Willis, the Bulldogs have arms they have relied heavily on. Junior Kenley Hawk has a 2.88 ERA in 94.2 innings pitched. Hawk has given up 84 hits, 51 runs, 47 walks and struck out 101. In addition to Hawk is Junior Aspen Wesley who has a 3.04 ERA. Through her 25 appearances and 83 innings she has 67 strikeouts, 25 walks, 52 runs and 76 hits,

Hitting

Offensively, the Bulldogs are led by Senior Mia Davidson, who leads the team in most offensive categories. With a .390 batting average she is only the second Bulldog to have double digit home runs with 21. In addition, Davidson has 46 runs, 57 hits, 11 doubles, 41 RBI and 39 walks, 8 of those walks have come via the intentional walk.

Senior Chloe Malau’ulu sits behind Davidson in almost every category. Through 57 games, Malau’ulu has a .328 batting average with 43 runs, 57 hits, 10 doubles, 2 triples and 23 RBI.

Matchup

ERA

FSU (2.05) USF (1.62) MSU (3.04) HU (4.22)

Batting Average

FSU (.293) USF (.269) MSU (.278) HU (.303)

Scoring

FSU (6.04) USF (4.45) MSU (5.05) HU (5.94)

Here’s a look at each team in the regional’s strength:

• FSU: above average pitching, above average hitting
• USF: above average pitching, below average hitting
• Howard: below average pitching, below average hitting
• MSU: below average pitching, average hitting

How to Watch

• USF v. Mississippi State: Friday May 20th 6 p.m. ESPNU
• Howard vs. FSU: Friday May 20th 8:30 ESPN+

• USF v. FSU: Saturday May 21 1 p.m. ESPN2
• MSU v. Howard: Saturday May 21 3:30 p.m. ESPN+
• MUS v. FSU: Sunday May 22 2 pm on ESPN2

This will be updated with times, opponent and where to watch as FSU progresses through the regional.