FSU softball: Noles travel to NC State for regular season finale

No. 3 FSU softball (46-5,16-5 ACC) will look for their ninth consecutive win as they travel to take on NC State (33-19, 7-14 ACC) in the regular-season finale. FSU topped the Florida Gators in walk-off fashion in their last outing.

The Wolfpack are 23-7 at home and bring a team batting average of .266 into the game.

They have just two batters hitting .300 or better, with 74 home runs, 62 doubles, and one triple.

Their on-base percentage is .376. NC State’s pitching staff brings a 3.66 ERA while allowing a .248 batting average.

They have allowed 42 home runs and have 309 strikeouts and 120 walks in 336.1 innings. Defensively, they have 59 errors for a .958 fielding percentage.

FSU softball has four batters hitting over. 300, with 52 home runs, 70 doubles, and 10 triples.

Their on-base percentage is .385. FSU’s pitching staff brings a 1.83 ERA while allowing a .194 batting average.

They have allowed 28 home runs and have 322 strikeouts and 88 walks in 355 innings. Defensively, FSU has 25 errors for a .983 fielding percentage.

Keys To Victory

NC State isn’t a great hitting team, but one of the obvious things to note is that FSU pitchers will need to keep the ball in the park. They have a lot of power, but also strike out 26.7 percent of their at-bats.

Defensively, NC State will kick it around, so FSU batters will need to put the ball in play to stress their defense. NC State pitchers are usually around the plate and usually don’t overpower hitters. However, they have hit nearly double the number of batters compared to FSU pitchers.

The Wolfpack are not extra-aggressive running the bases, going 27 of 36 on stolen bases. They’ve allowed 35 of 47 stolen bases, and FSU is 78 of 96 on the season in that department. Kathryn Sandercock was excellent against Florida earlier this week. I hope to see Danielle Watson continue the form she exhibited in his last outing against Oklahoma State. Friday’s game will begin at 6 p.m. and will air on  the ACCNX channel.