FSU softball will face Notre Dame in 2024 ACC Tournament Quarterfinals

FSU softball (41-13, 19-5 ACC) didn't end its regular season the way it wanted, losing its first ACC series since early March against Syracuse and the ACC regular-season title. However, the Noles will enter the 2024 ACC Softball Tournament as the No. 2 overall seed and will play the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in the quarterfinals on Thursday at 5 p.m. All games will be in Durham, NC, home to the No. 1 seed Duke Blue Devils. It should be noted, that FSU softball played the last few weeks without one of its best pitchers, Makenna Reid, and it's not clear when or if Reid will return. If not, it'll be a tall task for FSU softball to repeat at ACC Softball Tournament Champions. FSU faced the Fighting Irish in early April, sweeping the three-game series on their home turf. The first game was competitive until the Noles broke it open late. The next two games were won by the Noles. 

Notre Dame earned the opportunity to face the Noles with a 7-4 win over North Carolina in the first round. Notre Dame's offense is decent, but they don't have much power, with only 30 home runs this season. They generally put the ball in play and only strike out 13 percent of the time. Their pitchers are not great, and they play OK defense. This should be a game the Noles win if they get solid pitching and play good defense. However, the latter has been an issue lately with players that haven't gotten a lot of playing time on the field. Nevertheless, I expect FSU's offense to score runs against their pitching staff, as they did in the previous series. The winner of this game will take on the winner of Virginia Tech/Georgia Tech. FSU didn't face either in the regular season. The game will air on the ACC Network.