Francik's stellar outing leads Florida State softball to ACC Championship
The Florida State softball team proved all year it was the best in the ACC.
On Saturday in Charlottesville, it drove that point home.
The Seminoles, who won the conference title outright with a 21-3 record in the league, finished off a perfect tournament run with a 2-1 win over Virginia Tech in the ACC Championship Game.
It was the 20th ACC Tournament championship overall for the FSU softball program and the 10th for head coach Lonni Alameda. It was also the first for the Seminoles since 2023. And it wasn’t easy.
The Hokies took the lead in the top of the first inning on the first error of the year by superstar shortstop Isa Torres. With two outs and a runner on second, Torres made a great leaping play on a high-hopping ground ball, spun and threw to first. The ball got by first baseman Haley Griggs, allowing the runner on third to score and giving the All-American her first “E” of the season.
It wound up being the only run the Hokies would score off Florida State. And that was mainly due to the ACC Pitcher of the Year living up to the billing.
Sophomore Jazzy Francik started the game for the Seminoles and recorded the first 14 outs before being replaced by Ashtyn Danley with two outs in the fifth. Francik then came back into the game in the top of the sixth after the Hokies put two runners on with a single and a two-out walk.
The FSU ace walked the first batter she faced to load the bases but then got out of the jam with a line drive right at Torres.
Francik then pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning and, fittingly, the last out of the game was a ground ball to Torres, who threw a strike to first and then celebrated in the middle of the infield with her teammates.
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Florida State’s offense, which put up nine runs in a run-rule win over Stanford in the semifinals on Friday, only had three hits on the day against Virginia Tech’s hard-throwing pitchers. In the end, the Seminoles really only needed one of those hits.
And that was the one from junior Kennedy Harp, who blasted an RBI triple off the fence in the bottom of the second to score Bella Ruggiero. Harp scored on the very next pitch on a passed ball.
The Seminoles, thanks to Francik and the stellar defense, made sure it was enough. And now they are once again ACC champions.
Florida State is 49-8 overall and came into Saturday’s game against the Hokies at No. 10 in the RPI. The Seminoles will find out on Sunday evening during the NCAA Selection Show if they’ve done enough to earn a Top 8 national seed.
Either way, it’s essentially an automatic that FSU will be at home next weekend for the NCAA Regionals.
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