Will transfer pitcher Julia Apsel be a difference-maker inside the circle?
Ashtyn Danley's development over last year was much needed, and we saw glimpses of development from Makenna Reid introducing a change-up into her arsenal.
FSU has to keep those two healthy, and Mimi Gooden showed some nice glimpses as a freshman in 2024. However, it's the transfer, Julia Apsel who will likely determine how good FSU can be inside the circle in 2025.
Apsel was the ace at Hofstra and threw over 200 innings last year. She pitched well against Power Five teams, including postseason teams like Texas, Missouri, and Penn State.
She'll have the benefit of a better offense to support her, as Hofstra's offense scored 300 fewer runs than FSU in 2024.
I don't think she's Kathryn Sandercock, but she has the potential to keep FSU competitive with those upper-echelon teams FSU will face in the postseason. At the very least, she can eat up innings, and keep FSU in games with its potential to score runs.
We saw that Achilles' heel show against Oklahoma in the Super Regionals. FSU didn't have the pitching to keep pace with Oklahoma's offense when the FSU bats went cold.
Apsel, Reid, Danley, Gooden, Dimitrijevic, Francik, Gaskell and Averi Dockery. That's four pitchers with experience and several young arms with potential to give major support.
FSU softball will open its season on February 6th in Mexico at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge against Oklahoma State and Northern Colorado. They'll also face Louisiana Tech on February 7th before playing against Louisiana Tech and Oklahoma State on February 8th to finish that tournament.