FSU Softball seeking Super Regional revenge against LSU this weekend
By Jason Parker
FSU softball will see a familiar foe this weekend – the same Tigers team that defeated them last season in this round and kept them from Oklahoma City.
For almost an entire calendar year, the FSU softball team has had a chance to think about what took place last May inside JoAnne Graf Field – when the Seminoles dominated the regional round against a SEC team and Jacksonville State as the No. 4 seed in the country before getting bounced in the Super Regional round after winning the first game.
So far, things are looking very familiar if you are head coach Lonni Alameda and the Seminoles – after bouncing Auburn and the Gamecocks this season, the Noles will be home starting Friday night as the No. 6 team in the this year’s tournament.
Their opponents? The same LSU team that sent FSU softball to an exit just short of what would have been the 10th appearance in the College World Series in program history.
If you don’t think for a second that the Seminoles and Alameda don’t know what’s on the table – a trip to Oklahoma City as well as some revenge – you are dead wrong.
FSU softball, advancing to the Super Regional round for the sixth straight season, is playing some of their best ball of the season at this point. Starting pitcher Kylie Hanson threw a total of 13 innings in two games last weekend – and allowed one hit, which game in the sixth inning of Sunday’s regional clincher after throwing a no hitter on Friday to kick things off.
"“Kylee again set the tone,” Alameda said to the Tallahassee Democrat. “She’s been spinning it so well, such good confidence and setting the tone early against the hitters. Really made it comfortable for the offense to go out and do their thing.”"
After being ranked as high as seventh in the country earlier in the season, LSU enters the weekend with a 44-15 record overall – but needed some luck after losing to Louisiana Lafayette on Sunday and needing to win a second game against the Ragin Cajuns just to make it to Tallahassee.
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Just like their baseball counterparts, the FSU softball team is still looking for the first NCAA national title in program history – and for Alameda and company, getting a little revenge in the process after last season is just the icing on the cakes for the Seminoles on their road to Oklahoma City.