No. 4 FSU Softball begins final road series at Notre Dame: Preview, game thread, how to watch

On Wednesday, Florida State softball completed a midweek game against the Florida Gators. The Seminoles secured a 5-3 win against their in-state rival. After the home game, they will hit the road again for another ACC series. This weekend, they will square off with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Against the Irish, FSU is 23-7 all time, and have claimed the last six matchups. With the trip up to South Bend, it will be the first since 2018.

This season, Notre Dame is 29-13-1 overall, and 11-9-1 in the ACC. The 7th place, in conference, Irish are on a two game win streak, and have had a a good season so far. They have wins over Arizona State, Duke and took 2 of 3 from Virginia Tech.

Irish Pitching

Notre Dame returns two of their top pitchers from last season, and added an impressive freshman. The newcomer Micaela Kastor is the team leader in ERA. In 71.1 innings, she has a 2.16 ERA, with 58 H, 32 R, 24 BB, 65 SO, and a .218 B/AVG.

They return 5th year, Payton Tidd, who is coming off of an All-ACC second team season. Her 2.75 ERA is second best on the team, and 135 innings pitched is the leader. In 26 appearances, she has 143 H, 66 R, 37 BB, 99 SO, and a .265 B/AVG.

The Irish also have Shannon Becker, who has similar numbers to Kastor. In 25 appearances, Becker has a 3.76 ERA, 70.2 IP, 72 H, 47 R, 30 BB, 56 SO, .259 B/AVG.

Notre Dame Offense

In total, Notre Dame has 6 players batting over .300. One of those batters is junior Karina Gaskins. The 2022 ACC Player of the Year has a .362 average, 36 R, 42 H, 6 2B, 14 HR, 39 RBI, and a team leading 39 BB. Gaskins is the leader in homeruns, RBI, and walks.

The team leader in batting average is Joley Mitchell, who has a .388 with 36 R, 50 H, 7 2B, 9 HR, 39 RBI and 16 BB. Mitchell also leads in stolen bases, with a 14-16 record on the base paths.

In the ACC standings, two hitters are top 10 in slugging, on base percentage, OPS, homeruns, walks (Karina Gaskins and Lexi Orozco). They also have one player in runs scored, hits, and doubles (Carlli Kloss).

As a team, Notre Dame leads the ACC in batting average.

Seminole Headlines

• Michaela Edenfield is 2nd in the ACC in walks (35)
• Devyn Flaherty Is 6th in the ACC in walks (29), and 1st in stolen bases (25)

Stats Comparison

Batting average: ND (.328), FSU (.308)

ERA: ND (2.91), FSU (1.66)

On base percentage: ND (.409), FSU (.414)

Scoring: ND (6.47), FSU (6.25)

Where to Watch

• Friday April 28th 6 pm ACCN
• Saturday April 29th 1 pm ACCNX
• Sunday April 30th 12 pm ACCNX