Florida State softball started its 2026 campaign with a 5-0 start, which isn’t surprising considering the competition in the JoAnne Graf Classic. Those games provided good experience for an FSU softball team relying on several freshmen before they jump into some high-level competition in the Clearwater Invitational later this week.
Related Story: Major takeaways from JoAnne Graf Classic
However, FSU has a Tuesday night game against Liberty before they travel for their contest away from the Plex. Liberty entered the preseason as the No. 23 team nationally, but has lost all five games. At first glance, it would be easy to say they suck, or this should be an easy win.
However, Liberty has played No. 4 Tennessee, No. 9 Clemson, Missouri, No. 5 Oregon, and Notre Dame. Missouri and Notre Dame were not good teams, but the other three are usually ranked every year and make the postseason. The Flames won 50 games last year and made it to the Georgia Regional.
It’s a game that FSU should win, but it’s not a game for them to take lightly before traveling to Clearwater. Liberty is struggling in every facet. They are hitting .185 overall, with no home runs, and the pitching staff has 25 walks against 13 strikeouts. They have committed nine errors in five games for a .938 fielding percentage.
Are the stats reflective of the level of competition faced, or they just that bad? It's probably somewhere in the middle, but if FSU is as good as we think, this will be a good litmus test to see if the Noles can beat them in a similar fashion as the other top 10 ranked teams they have faced.
The game will start at 6 p.m. on Tuesday, airing on the ACCNX channel.