Florida State softball suffered its first defeat of the 2026 season on Thursday afternoon. The Noles led 1-0 most of the way against the No. 1 Texas Tech Red Raiders, before falling 3-2 late in the game.
FSU had its opportunities. They had the tying run on with one out and got doubled off when Texas Tech caught a ball that was literally inches from going over the fence to end the game.
Logan Halleman calls game WOW 😤#NCAASoftball #SCTop10 x 🎥 ESPN2 / @TexasTechSBpic.twitter.com/KYfqtbWcAY
— NCAA Softball (@NCAASoftball) February 12, 2026
Florida State needs the bats to get hot and stay hot this season
FSU pitchers were not sharp, walking six batters (though two of those should have been strikeouts because the umpire was inconsistent). Freshman Bella Dimitrijevic started the game and went three scoreless innings, which is promising.
However, the FSU bats were cold all day, striking out six times and not drawing a single walk. It shouldn’t be too surprising that five of those six strikeouts were from FSU freshmen.
The Noles will look to turn the page when they take on Florida Atlantic. The undefeated Owls will face Texas Tech at 4 p.m. before facing the Noles at 7 p.m.
That should be an advantage for the Noles. The Owls are hitting .382 and have an on-base percentage of .455. They pitchers are solid and only allow a .217 batting average.
It'll be a good test to see how many of the young freshmen respond to some adversity early in the season. Will the allow that one loss turn into two? The hope is that's not the case with a strong UCLA team on deck Saturday night. I have complete faith in the FSU pitchers to be consistent and get it done this year. The biggest questions will be how this FSU offense evolves as the season progresses.