Fresh off their first Horizon League conference championship last week, the Robert Morris softball team will be venturing south to the Tallahassee Regional for the opening of the NCAA Tournament.
There, the Colonials will be taking on Florida State and either Auburn or USF. The matchup against FSU will be the seventh ever meeting between the programs, and the first since 2004.
The Seminoles, who were tabbed as the fifth overall seed, enter the tournament with a record of a 46-9 and finishing 18-3 in the ACC, the best in the conference. FSU also has a team batting average of .355 and has hit 76 home runs and 396 RBI this season.
The sheer depth of hitting for the Seminoles is staggering, as well. Isa Torres led the ACC in hits with 88, while Katie Dack and Jaysoni Beachum both have hit over ten home runs. Five other FSU players have seven or more to their name, too.
But RMU hasn’t been a slouch at the plate either, breaking many program records this season.
Head coach Jexx Varner has created multiple threats at bat, and through single-season home run record holder, Courtney Poulich, and freshman Mary Brant, helped break the single-season team records of home runs (48) and RBI (255).
It’s undoubted that the battle will be won in the circle, with both RMU and Florida State producing talented and award-winning pitchers this season. Jazzy Francik held the lowest ERA in the ACC this season, a monumental feat for the freshman. Francik was also included in the ACC’s all-conference first team.
Maybe more impressive than the freshman’s performances this year has been the depth in pitching as a whole. Joining Francik in the ACC ERA leaders category are her teammates Ashtyn Danley and Makenna Reid, who both have under a 1.90 ERA this season. That means Florida State has three players of the top four in ERA in the conference.
Florida State has been a powerhouse in the collegiate softball under longtime head coach Lonni Alameda. The NFCA Hall of Famer has taken the Seminoles to the College World Series five times in the last nine years. Alameda is also a seven-time ACC Coach of the Year, including this season, and has taken FSU to the championship twice in the last five years.
The Colonials will be entering the game as major underdogs, but do have a win against Florida State to their name, a 1-0 win in Tallahassee in 1994.
Robert Morris will need one win to take on the winner of USF and Auburn. A loss will mean the Colonials will play the loser of that matchup in an elimination game.
First pitch in the Colonials’ matchup against Florida State is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Friday. The Tallahassee Regional has not revealed when the following games will take place.
