If FSU softball is to make a run in NCAA Tournament, freshmen must deliver - TheOsceola: Florida State Seminoles Football & Basketball Recruiting

Published May 16, 2024

If FSU softball is to make a run in NCAA Tournament, freshmen must deliver

Bob Ferrante • TheOsceola

Editor

Florida State’s freshmen have needed to be productive. In what has been an up-and-down season for the Seminoles, how the freshmen perform in the postseason spotlight will determine how far the team advances.

While FSU returned a core of veterans in the lineup, freshmen have made a major impact. Jaysoni Beachum leads the team in nearly every major hitting category, Isa Torres is third on the team in hitting while flashing an impressive glove at shortstop, and Ashtyn Danley has often been the team’s most effective pitcher.

“I’m super excited,” Danley said. “We don’t have that much experience but excited to just go out there and give it our all. Obviously play for the seniors, last go around. Want to give it all to them and the team.

“I feel like we’ve been in a lot of situations. A lot of tough situations. Definitely not freshmen like we were in the beginning of the year. But I think in this situation still a little bit of freshmen just because we haven’t experienced it. But with their support and their leadership we’re going to go in and not feel as much pressure and nervousness.”

FSU (43-14) opens the Tallahassee Regional with Chattanooga (42-14) on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (ACC Network), while Auburn (27-19-1) and UCF (30-23) face off at 2 p.m. (ESPNU). The Seminoles are familiar with Auburn and UCF, and this regional should again be a challenging one.

This is the 10th straight time FSU has hosted a regional, one of just four programs nationally (Alabama, Oklahoma and UCLA have also done so). In 10 of the last 12 years, FSU has advanced to the Supers.

If they are to advance to the Supers, it will almost undoubtedly be a matchup at Oklahoma in a best-of-three format that will be a rematch as the Seminoles and Sooners played for the Women’s CWS title in OKC in 2023. Oklahoma won that series in two games.

If FSU is to make a run this season, there are veterans all over the field and in the lineup — from catcher Michaela Edenfield to second baseman Devyn Flaherty and outfielders like Kaley Mudge, Jahni Kerr and Kalei Harding. But how the freshmen perform under pressure will be critical.

Danley has been vital as a starter and reliever, leading the team in wins (16) and ERA (3.16). In her last 23 games, Danley has a 2.11 ERA and 62 strikeouts.

Beachum has been not only one of the nation’s best freshmen but top players. The third baseman leads FSU in batting average (.436), hits (75), home runs (15) and RBI (64) with just five errors at the hot corner. Her RBI total is the most by a freshman in program history and on the single-season list she trails only Maddie O’Brien (83 in 2014) as well as Jessie Warren (78, 70 and 68 in the 2016, ’18 and ’17 seasons, respectively).

Torres is third on the team in batting (.364) and third in RBI (53). All of this while playing shortstop, committing just six errors, and easing concerns of what life would look like with Josie Muffley’s graduation.

This isn’t to say it has all been perfect for FSU or the freshmen. The Seminoles’ record against top-25 teams was just 4-8. But FSU is also growing up and is battle-tested: The Seminoles have faced five of the nation’s regional hosts in No. 1 Texas, No. 4 Florida, No. 6 UCLA, No. 10 Duke and No. 14 Alabama.

“Looking back from the beginning of the season to now, obviously we took a huge step,” Beachum said a few weeks ago. “We’ve learned a lot and I feel like we’ve shown that.”

The schedule could have been even tougher, too. A date in Clearwater with Tennessee, which ended up being the No. 3 seed, was rained out. And a road trip to Oregon was also postponed due to weather.

FSU coach Lonni Alameda loves to schedule as tough as she can to prepare veterans as well as newcomers for the NCAA Tournament. FSU has played in tough environments at home, road and neutral settings. On Wednesday, she mentioned the intensity of the home game with Florida as one example.

“It’s not any different in the sense of what the environment is going to be like,” Alameda said. “It’s just the fact of we have two games left or as many as we want to play. So it’s survive and advance. …

“Freshmen aren’t freshmen in the sense that now we’ve been through it. But they haven’t been through this. So I think this is still new to them, hopefully it’s fun for them, they don’t put a lot of pressure on themselves.”