Florida State softball, the defending ACC champion (for the tournament and regular season,) will start its fall schedule on October 2 against Chipola.
Florida State softball has announced its 2026 fall schedule. The first five games of the eight game schedule will be played in Tallahassee at the Seminole Softball Complex. The fall season will start on October 2 against Chipola College.
After Chipola, Florida State will play Florida A&M on October 4, Troy on October 10, Gulf State College on October 17, and Auburn on October 18. The next two games will be played in Gulf Shores on October 24 and 25, both games will be against LSU. The final game will be at Florida on November 13. For head coach Lonni Alameda, the season couldn't come fast enough. The high expectations of last season were met with an early exit in last season's first round of the NCAA Tournament. Florida State did win the regular ACC championship and the ACC Tournament last season.
Florida State entered the tournament as the nine seed, and hosted the first round in Tallahassee. There proved to be zero home field advantage as Florida State suffered an upset loss to Stetson in the opening game 8-3, and to UCF in the regional championship round 4-2.
To add to the pain of the loss, coach Alameda had the best player in softball last season in Isa Torres. Torres was named National Player of the Year, ACC Player of the Year, and ACC Defensive Player of the Year for the 2025-2026 season. Torres has since hit the transfer portal and cashed in with the Texas Longhorns.
Last season Florida State had eight players receive All ACC honors. Of the eight, coach Alameda is lucky to have only lost two in this transfer portal/NIL era.
Gone are Torres and Jaysoni Beachum. Beachum was rated the No.2 third baseman in college softball last season, as well as being an All American.
The returning All-ACC players are Jazzy Francik(ACC Pitcher of the Year), Ashtyn Danley (pitcher/outfield), Shelby McKenzie (utility/infield), Marin Heller (infield), Haley Griggs (utility), and Anna Hinde (catcher).
October 2 will be our first chance to see top transfer portal players (Ella Dodge, Nicole Edmiaston)brought in by Alameda to replace the production lost with the transfers of Torres and Beachum.
Dodge (utility), is an experienced player from Tennessee that has played in two College World Series. She has 110 starts in her career after two seasons.
Edmiaston (C/1B), was the ASUN Player of the Year at Stetson last season. Last season she batted .453 and hit a school record 23 home runs.
Once fall ball is over, Florida State will start its spring season with its annual Garnett and Gold Scrimmage, on February 1.
