FSU softball: Major takeaways from series win over Virginia Cavaliers

FSU softball (35-8, 13-2 ACC) won game one 6-1 and dropped the first game of Saturday’s doubleheader 6-5 but rebounded to run-rule Virginia 8-0 in the rubber match to win the series.

It’s a series FSU softball would have swept if Lonnie Alameda had kept the same pitching rotation she used against Clemson. Katheryn Sandercock and Makenna Reid were stellar as they were against Clemson, as they only allowed one run in 14 innings.

However, Ali Dubois and Allison Royalty were not nearly as sharp as last week against Clemson. I think DuBois is most effective when she comes in to relieve someone throwing much harder than her, like Reid or Sandercock.

Virginia built up a 6-0 lead in the second game against DuBois and Royalty before FSU’s comeback attempt came up just short. They allowed eight hits, three walks, hit three batters, and struck out five. Offensively, Devyn Flaherty had a great series at the plate.

Kalei Harding and Kaley Mudge were solid, and Mack Leonard had a strong final game in the series, going 2-3 with three RBI. Michaela Edenfield only had one hit in the series, but also walked six times and only struck out once.

Virginia pitchers came into the series with a ton of strikeouts, but FSU batters put the ball in play, only striking out nine times in the series.

Virginia was one of the better defensive teams in the nation, but FSU put the ball in play and forced them to make defensive plays, which resulted in five errors in the series.

FSU softball only committed two errors in the series, which continues an improvement defensively over a rough start to the season. I thought we’d get more of a set rotation after the Clemson sweep, but Coach Alameda went a different route for some reason.

I’m curious to see what we’ll see next week against No. 17 Virginia Tech. The Noles will be back in action Tuesday night against Mercer.