Florida State softball had been on a roll since mid-February, rattling off 24 consecutive wins for the longest winning streak in the nation. They traveled to the West Coast and defeated Santa Clara with ease to make it 25 consecutive wins before facing the No. 23 Stanford Cardinals.
Some Florida State fans will offer the time zone difference, travel, weather delays, etc. However, Stanford just wanted it more than Florida State and swept them in three games, including walk-off wins in the first and third games.
I watched some of the Oklahoma vs. Texas game that aired before the Florida State game, and it was sobering. It was clear that those two teams were a notch or two better than Florida State. Then, I watched them play Stanford in the third game, and it became even more apparent.
The biggest perceived strength for Florida State, its pitching, is a liability. The walks and inability to put batters away with strikeouts have been costly. However, it has mostly been the walks. Jazzy Francik has already doubled her total from last year, and Ashtyn Danley is already at about 80 percent of her total from last year. Freshman Bella Dimitrijevic has a lot of potential, but the walks and propensity to allow home runs are concerning.
Stanford isn’t even an elite hitting team, and FSU pitchers could not put them away. FSU pitchers struck out 18 Stanford batters, while walking 21.
FSU batters left 25 runners on base and didn’t get much from anyone outside of Isa Torres and Jaysoni Beachum. We already know that FSU struggles against power pitchers, as evident from early games in the season against some top teams.
Bottom Line For The 2026 Florida State Softball Team
It's not an elite team. They have feasted on beating bad to good teams, but have failed against nearly every ranked team they've faced except one game against UCLA.
The walks for Florida State pitchers have been an issue for a while, but they just haven't played teams good enough to make them pay. They haven't faced many teams with good pitching during the winning streak either.
Stanford wanted those three games more Florida State. Maybe it was a combination of the road trip and getting complacent with winning 25 straight games against inferior competition.
Maybe this series sweep will get them to lock in again? I have no doubt they'll probably contend for the ACC regular-season title. However, when it comes to competing for another WCWS title this year? I'm afraid I don't see it with what we've seen from this team thus far, compared to what I've seen from other top 5-10 teams. For the record, I said before this season that 2027 would be the year I thought they would have the best shot at competing for another WCWS title.