Florida State Seminoles
Overall Rank: #6
Conference Rank: #1 ACC
Florida State was in unchartered waters in 2019 as it was their time as the defending national champion of college softball. The Seminoles took everyone’s best shot all year long and earned a top eight national seed. In the postseason, Florida State took care of business in the Tallahassee Regional getting through that without too much of a problem. However, in the Tallahassee Super Regional they ran into an Oklahoma State team that was not going to be denied and the Seminoles fell just short of returning to the Women’s College World Series.
2019: 55-10, 19-5
2019 Postseason: NCAA
Coach: Lonni Alameda
Key Departed Players:
Cali Harrod, INF.350 BA, 15 HR, 41 RBI, 43 SB
Carsyn Gordon, INF, .335 BA, 15 HR, 42 RBI, 15 SB
Zoe Casas, OF, .333 BA, 4 HR, 31 RBI, 3 SB
Makinzy Herzog, P, .316 BA, 3 HR, 26 RBI, 1.56 ERA, 10-2 W/L, 71.2 IP, 25 BB, 58 SO
Meghan King, P, 1.43 ERA, 30-7 W/L, 210.1 IP, 45 BB, 237 SO
Key Returning Players:
Sydney Sherrill, UTIL, 405 BA, 16 HR, 60 RBI, 8 SBI
Dani Morgan, UTIL, .377 BA, 14 HR, 58 RBI, 9 SB
Elizabeth Mason, UTIL, .343 BA, 11 HR, 57 RBI
Anna Shelnutt, C, .293 BA, 11 HR, 35 RBI
Cassidy Davis, P/UTIL, .309 BA, 10 HR, 43 RBI
Kathryn Sandercock, P, 1.99 ERA, 91.1 IP, 15 BB, 49 SO
Projection:
One guarantee about Florida State softball is their ability to light up the scoreboard offensively. Sydney Sherrill is back to lead what should be another potent lineup in 2020. Sherrill can do a little of everything as she hit .405 with 16 homeruns, 60 runs batted in and also stole eight bases. Dani Morgan and Elizabeth Mason are back and they’ll provide plenty of experience and have that combination of hitting for a high average and plenty of power. Anna Shelnutt is one of the better hitting catchers in all of college softball and will need to bring along a pitching staff that is talented but will need to replace Meghan King’s production. Kathryn Sandercock threw 91.1 innings and was very effective as she had a 1.99 earned run average while displaying great command in the circle. Cassidy Davis does have some pitching experience but her bat is what will be key for the Seminoles this season. Caylan Arnold transferred over from Tennessee and she should slide in to the rotation pretty seamlessly alongside Sandercock. Arnold will need to eat up around 160-180 innings to set Florida State up for a deep run in the postseason. The Seminoles will play their usual loaded schedule with the likes of Alabama, Minnesota, Washington, UCLA, and Florida on the slate to get ready for ACC play. There will also be a critical two game series against Louisiana in what will be a preview of two top eight seeds going against each other. In the end, it might take a couple of weeks for Florida State to sort some things out, but by May they should be a top eight national seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Projected Postseason: Women’s College World Series
