FSU softball takes on Georgia Tech in ACC Softball Tournament Semifinals

FSU softball (42-13) defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 2-0 in the 2024 ACC Tournament Quarterfinals on Thursday afternoon. The win moved the Noles into the semifinals, where they will take on the No. 6 seed Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (32-22). Georgia Tech upset the No. 3 seeded Virginia Tech Hokies 6-3 Thursday evening. This game will be the first meeting between FSU and Georgia Tech this season, as they didn't face one another in the regular season. The winner will meet the winner of the Duke/Clemson game in the finals. The Yellow Jackets offense is hitting .310, with a whopping 89 home runs and an .410 on-base percentage. The thing is, they don't strike out much (13.7 percent) for a team with so much power. Georgia Tech pitchers don't overpower batters with strikeouts, but they issue a ton of walks (231 in 351 innings). Opposing hitters have a .261 batting average against them. Defensively, they are solid, with a .968 fielding percentage. 

The key to winning this game will be FSU pitching, no question. They must stay ahead in counts and keep the ball in the ballpark while avoiding walks. FSU can likely overcome solo home runs, but home runs with traffic on the bases would be a problem. Offensively, FSU must show patience at the plate since Georgia Tech issues a lot of walks and cause havoc on the base paths when they get runners on. Teams are successful 77 percent of the time when stealing. If Makenna Reid still isn't available, it'll likely be Ashtyn Danley, Allison Royalty, and possibly Mimi Gooden in the circle. Royalty and Danley split duties against Notre Dame, throwing 61 and 29 pitches, respectively. They allowed no runs and only four hits against Notre Dame on Thursday. The first pitch will be at 3:30 p.m., and the game will air on the ACC Network.