FSU softball: How Noles matchup against Howard in Tallahassee Regional

No. 2 national seed FSU softball (52-5, 19-5 ACC) will take on No. 4 regional seed Howard Bison (31-22, 17-4 MEAC) in the Tallahassee Regional Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN+. Mississppi State and South Florida are the other two opponents in the regional.

The Noles swept them in their three-game series in early April, outscoring them 25-2. The Bison bring a .303 batting average, with 23 home runs, 67 doubles, and 20 triples.

They have an on-base percentage of .381 and strike out 12.5 percent of their at-bats. Howard pitchers bring a 4.20 ERA, with opposing batters hitting .276 with 221 strikeouts and 168 walks in 338.2 innings. They have allowed 26 home runs.

Defensively, Howard had 84 errors for a .944 fielding percentage. FSU softball has five batters hitting over .300.

They hit .293 with 68 home runs, 80 doubles, and 10 triples. They have an on-base percentage of .386 and strike out 16.2 percent of their at-bats. FSU pitchers bring a 2.05 ERA, with opposing batters hitting .202 with 359 strikeouts and 105 walks in 397 innings.

They have allowed 38 home runs. Defensively, FSU had 29 errors for a .983 fielding percentage.

Keys To Victory

FSU softball is the better overall team and have faced much stiffer competition throughout the season. The Bison played one Power 5 team and were beat by the run rule in both games. They don’t have a lot of power aside from Kalita Dennis (nine home runs) and Alyssa Vasquez (seven home runs).

However, they bat over .300 as a team, but that’s against pitching that’s not close to what takes place in the ACC. Defensively, Howard will kick it around if you put the ball in play as their pitching isn’t great and they issue a lot of walks.

FSU softball needs to play focused like they have the majority of the year and do what they do and they should be fine.

The winner of this game will take on the winner of the Mississippi State/South Florida game Saturday at 1p.m. ET.