Fresh off a dominant regular season, the top-seeded Seminoles bring their elite pitching and All-ACC stars to Charlottesville to face a surging Georgia Tech squad in the quarterfinals.
No. 1 seed Florida State will start ACC tournament play in the quarterfinals versus No. 9 seed Georgia Tech May 7 at 11 a.m. in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Florida State (46-8, 21-3) secured a first-round bye as the tournament's top seed when they swept Boston College in the last series of the regular season. Georgia Tech (30-26, 10-14 ACC) won by run-rule over No. 8 seed Notre Dame 13-3 in five innings in the first round of tournament play.
LAST TIME OUT
FSU swept Boston College in the season series finale to maintain the outright Regular Season ACC Championship, and the No. 1 overall seed in the ACC tournament. The Noles gave up three hits and no runs in the series against BC. In game one of the BC series Jazzy Francik pitched a complete game no-hitter, Ashtyn Danley pitched a complete game one-hitter in game two, and the Eagles managed two hits in game three. The garnet and gold outscored Boston College 26-0 winning two games by run-rule.
The Yellow Jackets upset the higher seeded Notre Dame Fighting Irish by run-rule in the opening round of tournament play 13-3 in five innings. Madalyn Johnson pitched a complete game striking out six for her 14th win and 12th complete game of the season.
KEY MATCH UP
Tech will need to have success at the plate to have a chance against the Noles in this single elimination event. This is a tall order considering the elite talent the Noles have on the mound led by Jazzy Francik who has thrown three no-hitters this season. If Tech can score early they will have a chance to make this competitive versus a team that embarrassed them in April when the Noles swept them.
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Florida State tied the school record with eight selections on this year's All-ACC teams. Isa Torres highlights this year's award winners as the ACC Player of the Year and ACC Defensive Player of the Year. Jazzy Francik won ACC Pitcher of the Year. Third baseman Jaysoni Beachum also earned first team All-ACC as she has reached base in 42 consecutive games.
Tech’s Gracyn Tucker is batting .373 with 42 runs, 69 hits, 12 doubles, 18 home runs, and 58 RBI. The second team All ACC infielder is the engine behind Tech’s offense.
Madalyn Johnson is 13-12 on the mound while having a 3.44 ERA. Johnson has 133 strikeouts on the season.
X FACTOR
The Noles now enter the postseason with heavy expectations based on their regular season dominance. Head coach Lonni Alameda was named ACC Coach of the year so you expect that she’ll have the ability to have her team sharp for the first post season game for the Noles. Can the young Noles who were just given a ton of hardware deal with the expectations that come with success? Will they have the maturity to play good quality ball now that the spotlight is truly on them?
First pitch is at 11 a.m. at Palmer Park in Charlottesville, VA.
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